Today, about 6 miles off the South Carolina coast, a pilot flying a U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jet fired a missile to shoot down what appears to have been a Chinese spy balloon that has flown above the U.S. for the last four days. Such intelligence balloons are not unusual—there were at least three during the Trump administration and one before in the Biden administration, but they were not visible to the public—and U.S. defense officials are accustomed to dealing with them. They “took immediate steps to protect against the balloon’s collection of sensitive information, mitigating its intelligence value.”
Speaking of "Dark Brandon", (an ostensibly bad guy about to to bad things) here is an article from the Wall Street Journal capturing the now ancient, at 81, George Will and his current perspectives on government. Compare Will's wild ravings to Dr. Richardson's perspective on government.
Mr. Will says, “that a market-based capitalist society of spontaneous order—I’m using Hayekian language—is good for the soul. People used to say ‘An armed society is a polite society’—if everyone had a Colt on their hip or a dagger on their belt, they’d be polite to each other. Well I think a commercial society is a polite society.”
Hayekian language? What? If we ALL just treat each other as if we (each) are a deadly threat to (each other) everything will be great??? Now, that is actually the most cogent statement in a wandering article with more ravings from what sounds like a madman.
I read the article twice. The first time I thought the incoherent, outrageously nutty nature of the article might be my own reading depth. So, I read it again carefully.
George Will, never of sound mind, and never a very good writer, but, as a white man able to stay gainfully employed at the Washington Post most likely because he had a rich Dad with some stroke, is positively off the rails as an old man.
To quote Mary Engelbreit, "May we all have the confidence of a mediocre white man." Or, to paraphrase the Hippies, Arming for civility is like f***ing for virginity.
According to the preface of my current favorite cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che, the earliest Chinese "restaurants" were Buddhist monastery kitchens who fed travelers. As Buddhists, they did not believe in killing, and preferred not to have knives at table. From that belief, came the practise of cutting food before cooking it, so that eaters need only chopsticks (replaceable by forks in some countries) and spoons.
One of the things I love about being on this forum is what you can learn about different cultures from the many backgrounds here. While I worked in a lot of different countries before retirement I never made it to India. Namaste, was a new word to me, even if I had seen the gesture. Thanks.
Dave Smucker - "Namaste, was a new word to me, even if I had seen the gesture."
It's often how you know yoga class is over: The teacher faces the class with their hands together in a bow and says, "Namaste." Maybe you bow and say it back.
But that's not the only place you'll encounter "namaste." In the years since yoga became commercially popular in the United States, the word has taken on a life of its own. Namaste has found its way onto T-shirts, welcome mats, mugs, socks, pencil cases, and tote bags.
The first part of namaste comes from "namaha," a Sanskrit verb that originally meant "to bend." Deshpande says, "Bending is a sign of submission to authority or showing some respect to some superior entity." Over time, "namaha" went from meaning "to bend" to meaning "salutations" or "greetings."
The "te" in namaste means "to you," Deshpande says. So all together, namaste literally means "greetings to you." In the Vedas, namaste mostly occurs as a salutation to a divinity.
But the use and meaning have evolved. Today, among Hindi speakers throughout the world, namaste is a simple greeting to say hello.
A lot of words we use today have religious roots, but just like "adios," "inshallah" or "goodbye" (an abbreviation of "God be with ye"), it doesn't have to be that deep.
When it comes to yoga, it's a different story. The commercial yoga industry in the United States often uses "namaste" in a way that is almost completely divorced from its use in Hindi. Some yoga websites claim that namaste is "𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴" or "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
Having spent time in India and attending daily “services” at a Temple as well as one of my best friends (someone I considered my sister and to her I was her brother), had a PHD and was an American author. Her sole purpose in life was to make Hinduism better understood in the west (aka the USA). She was devoutly Hindu.
Some of your text is correct some not. Namaste to Hindus does speak to the spiritual soul of each of us, speaks to that “light” in each of us. While it gets used as a gesture essentially saying hello (much like Jai Sia Ram), it is not simply meant as a gesture of “greetings / hello” to Hindus. It is meant to acknowledge the oneness of all. As another friend stated regarding it’s meaning, “I honor that place in you, where when you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us”.
You wrote: “In the Vedas, namaste mostly occurs as a salutation to a divinity.” No, not to “a divinity/ a god”. It is a salutation to the divinity in each of us, to the divine nature of all.
Like a voice from the past, your note made a memory pop into my mind of reading that book long, long ago. It made me think. Perhaps it is time to re-read again, and see where it takes me now, some 60+ years later. Thanks for the reminder.
Sharon CORRECTION ‘’I know a lot of young men that are currently off the rails and theY are around George Will’s age.” Please be cordial to us ‘vintage males.’
I am quite fond of a number of vintage males. Though there are a few who get on my nerves (not really connected with the present and think that "the old way of doing things was better"). On the other hand, I see a certain number of mid-life men who are off the rails, and some women who seem to think that cozying up to them somehow validates them as women. That makes me feel ill. What gives me hope is knowing that those people trying to recreate our society in the image of their small minds have to work very very hard to be heard, and fall flat almost every time, because there are more of us than them. Eventually they will realize that. I sure hope it is during my lifetime, because I don't want to miss it.
Annie, I am happy too that the very conservative complain it's hard to get their message out. My own brother,78, is one of them. Last night he sent me a PragerU video decrying this very thing. Secretly, I smiled and laughed and had a moment of hope that their difficulties would continue. But I wrote back (after not watching to the video) that people on both sides of the aisle seem to be having trouble making their message heard. It's no use entering into discussion on political issues with him any longer but I wish him well.
I live in solidarity with you on Colorado's Western Slope! There's a few of us - in fact, the county I live in has gone more Independent/Democrat - so, there is hope! Not so much for Mesa and Montrose counties unfortunately.
There was a time...long ago, so long ago. When most Americans realized that their government was doing all that it could to protect them. Even when their President was of a different party or simply a lunatic. Taking pot shots at the folks who volunteered to protect us is pathetic.
Our military and our intelligence community work 24/7 and often risk their lives for us. What do we do? We watch our big TVs getting numbed by MSM hysterically repeating someone's interpretation of someone's speculation about something they really know little about. We stare and rant at our phones, doom scrolling while we sip our lattes.
A surveillance balloon drifted over our country. Neutralizing its electronics and communication abilities would be within the abilities of many teenage hackers. So it was a terrific harmless side show. But it was the size of two or three buses. So the mature leadership of our country determined the safest place to take it down. And yet, there must be something there to criticize, right?
The "balloon gate" episode is just another way for the GQP traitors to distract Americans from their attempted coup and now their attempt at destroying the financial credibility of their own country.
I think this is a sign of their desperation. Now back to Jill and Joe's dogs, Hunter's laptop and that basement in the pizza parlor.
Have to share this on Face Book and condense it a bit to get on Twitter. GREAT response to the current bunch of "R"s in the House - all of whom need a sound spanking and then public rejection.
OH! I thought you were addressing me! and I was going to correct you about the "e" at the end of Chere. I stand corrected, but share your enthusiasm for Snarky HCR. Hmmm... it's an issue. How to encourage more Snark without sacrificing the very quality of dignified restraint that we have come to know and love. Hmmm... Cher Douglas, here. (sans "e")
Yeah, good one! Heather sets up the entire circus of absurdity and turns to us and says, "Live! Snarky Saturday Night!" Good one! Hopefully, when the craziness is finally crushed and HCR returns to being a college history professor she can host Snarky Saturday Night and take on the next foolishness, just not the foolishness of our current batch of fools. Keep it fresh, as long as HCR saves the world soon enough to get through this batch!
With this bunch if clowns we gave running the House of Representatives now, will this foolishness ever stop? I don’t think so. They have yet to put a decent Bill on the floor for a vote. They are still arguing and jockeying on who’s going to serve on what committee, they have no clue what to do with Santos (or whatever his name is), and MTG hadn’t completed barking her orders to McFarty keeping him totally confused, and lost.
You are well on your way to number one with the Marjorie song. Ignorable…Oh so unadorable. I want to take you in my arms up to the cliff side. Because you’re my Ignorable so unadorable. Oops! Oh oh.
If the moonlight had of been brighter….Maybe you wouldn’t have slipped … Over that cliff… Oh baby you said that you could fly…MyLittle Magapie…Just when I thought you were falling for me… you fell into the sea… our time together was so ignorable so unadorable altogether deplorable.
Pat, these posts have made my day. Since I live in Georgia, although thankfully not in MTG's district, I would love to see "Little Magpie" flapping her wings, to no avail, ignorable and unadorable creature that she is.
I sought refuge in Marietta rather than overnight in Atlanta. Georgia is the southern crossroads of trucking where all roads lead to Atlanta. There are very fine people there.
I moved here from New England over 50 years ago. Obviously, I like it. There has been a huge influx of people moving here over the years, and I'm hopeful that eventually the MTGs here will become irrelevant.
No Janet, I am an old man making snowshoes so he can climb up on the continental divide, sleep in a snow drift, write foolish songs, and have a moment.
I live in MTG's district, we are a rapidly growing exurb of metro Atlanta. Many businesses are locating out here and subdivisions and schools are popping up everywhere changing our area from pastoral to suburban. The professionals moving this way tend to be educated and liberal..things will change eventually.
I used to live in Rome and taught at one of the colleges there, which is in MTG's district. It was the first place I came to after living in Europe for nearly 20 years. To come from one of the most liberal societies, The Netherlands, to one that was SO conservative was quite the culture shock. Though the people I was around were all of a like mind politically and socially, nevertheless one could not escape that we were surrounded on all sides by people with a decidedly different view of the world. You learn quickly how to manage and get along with people of all stripes. For me it was an enormous adjustment as I returned to the US feeling very much like a foreigner.
The energy of Atlanta's northward spread had for years been its strongest going in a north and northeast direction for about 50 miles, following what is called the "I-85 corridor". For years in the '90s, the northern part of Gwinnett county and the southern part of my home county (Hall) were cited as THE fastest growing areas in the entire country. (When we moved here in 1956, the county had like 35,000 people. It's now over 220,000.) The northwestern expansion has been more recent, especially apparent in the past 20 years or so, and had largely left Rome untouched, but that has now changed. A county to the south of Rome's Floyd county, Cobb, for years in the '70s and '80s had been pretty solidly red--it was the area that produced Newt Gingrich. It was very White and very Republican. That has ALL changed and the county has become a Democratic stronghold. The trends do show rapid political shifts in some of the outer-most counties in the 26-county "conurbation", as it is called. Truly, it is only a matter of time before political winds and demographics can shift in the 14th district and extremists like MTG will surely be voted out. In the last election, the guy running against her was not, IMO, the strongest candidate the Democrats could put up. A more moderate Democrat--and I really HATE to say it, but one who's White--who also might be able to capture some of the moderate Independent and Republican votes, COULD conceivably be MTG's undoing. Fingers crossed this can happen sooner rather than later!
Bruce, I grew up in a suburb of Boston, and we've lived in Gwinnett County since 1975. Because of Gwinnett's rapid growth from other parts of the country, the population has become increasingly more diverse and liberal, making our county Democratic. I've observed the same phenomenon in Cobb. Like you, I believed that Marcus Flowers had no chance of beating MTG in the midterms, regardless of the donations (including mine) that he raised. Still, the outrageousness of Greene and the far right will eventually destine them to obscurity. I hope I live to see that day.
Bruce, although this is not on topic, I am wondering whether you have recently received a copy of "The Epoch Times," a newspaper described by the NYT as "[S]ince 2016, the Falun Gong-backed newspaper has used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire." We received a copy recently, and my guess is that we're not the only recipients. It was specifically addressed to my attention. Creepy!
Absolutely! From what I've been told, Caroll County is blood red - in every respect! Gwinnett County, where we live, used to be extremely conservative. Years ago (1980's), one of my sons was with friends, roaming through the woods near Stone Mountain. That night, there was a huge news broadcast, relating that a white supremacist who was being sought for the murder of Jewish radio host, Alan Berg (in Denver, I think), and was thought to be in the area. My son was terribly upset, because the photo of the fugitive looked like a person he'd seen in the woods. I immediately called the FBI, and the agent I spoke with said something along the lines of "Well, that's no surprise, since Stone Mountain was a rallying point for the KKK years ago, and there are lots of sympathizers there now." While I knew the history of Stone Mountain, and there is a huge carving on the face of the mountain of the Confederate generals in uniform on horseback, it was terribly unsettling. Fortunately, they caught the fugitive within hours, and in the last several years there have been ongoing negotiations about removing the carving or allowing the elements to destroy it. So, while we still have plenty of bigots, the tide has turned, Gwinnett County has become very diverse, and is now very BLUE!
When we first moved here in '56, then, of course, the South was still solidly Democratic, as in "Dixie-crats", very right-wing segregationists and VERY conservative. My folks, though pretty conservative, had always voted Republican even then, so were a bit against the grain here. Gwinnett then was largely rural and overwhelmingly White. Up further north there were counties that had been 100% White for decades as they had run all the Blacks out through fearmongering and intimidation. Three of them (Forsyth (just to our west), White (no joke), and Habersham) stayed that way until just over 40 years ago. As a kid, I remember seeing with my own eyes the billboard in the county seat of Forsyth county that said, "N****r, don't let the sun set on you." I may have even asked why that was, but my folks probably would have said something like, "Just because..." Now, with Atlanta's northern sprawl, Forsyth county has exploded in growth and has even far surpassed us in population, of which a sizeable proportion is Black. The KKK tried to make a stand in the early '80s, but you can see what became of that. Yes, Atlanta's growth (urban area now at 6.92 million) IS having an effect on these pockets of the Old South. We can only hope that change will continue on apace as the old die off and the new persist.
My friend is a Democrat and a transplant from Indiana and a family what were Democrats. I think since she has lived in Carrollton she has only one friend that isn't a Republican. We talk at least once a week...to keep her sane. Her husband worked for CBS that became Sony and he died nearly twenty years ago but two of their children relocated to the same area.
We have a LOT of crazies here...my brother won't even hardly go out of the house as he says you can't even go for a walk without being confronted by craziness. I haven't found it that bad, but in a place that went like 80% for T***p in '20, we do have our fair share. Just going on the website "NextDoor" is evidence enough. EVERY topic or posting, no matter how mundane or innocuous, is somehow always directed back to politics and how Biden and the Democrats are destroying the country, and how we had it so much better under T***p. Right. They bitch and moan about the local leaders and I SO badly want to remind them they're ALL Republicans and THEY elected them, so don't come crying to me! I don't go near any of them and stay out of all of that stuff. My real name is on there and I don't want to receive death threats.
Either dress like a bandido or start wearing a cowboy hat. If you are built I would go bandido. If you are slim wear the hat. Social problems solved. Smooth sailing. Confidence man. Or get a Dawgs sweatshirt and rip off the sleeves.
Bruce: Atlanta burbs will change soonish. This year 3.3 Million high school seniors will graduate nationwide followed by 3.5 M in June 2024 and so on! By 2026 about 15 Million 18-22 yr olds will be eligible to vote joined by older 2-4 college and grad students! Many competitive states have passed AVR (automatic voter registration based on the application for a driver’s license). I am trying to persuade states to broaden that by automatically including 18 yr olds in high school or college, and anyone else who has official contact with a state agency that can verify age, address, email, and personal signature. Tech folks easily can do all of that verification just like driver’s licenses. The sum of all this is that educated youth will outvote the Trumpers in 2024 and wipe out the crazy side of the Republican Party which has at most only to 2026-28 and thereafter to dominate most elections in cities, suburbs, etc in AZ, NV, CO, GA, NC, VA, MI, WI, PA, ILL, significant parts even of TX, OH, IA, FL, etc, etc!
Better be damn quick before MTG and her Trumpsters ruin this state! As long as they keep their Republican attitudes and keep a Trumpublican Governor and legislation , we’ll never get anything done for us. It will only be fir the rich.
Kemp is decidedly not pro-Trump at all and has been pretty obvious about that. In the gubernatorial race he totally shied away from even mentioning T***p. He very deftly succeeded in not antagonizing the T***p base and by doing so they could still vote for him--and they did. He tepidly endorsed Walker in the Senate runoff, but he was more or less forced to. He was definitely NOT for Walker in the Republican primary, nor did he endorse him during the November election. He was very noticeably silent about Walker until the runoff, when, being the governor, he basically HAD to endorse a Republican. The state General Assembly does still have a fair number of T***pies, though.
He was smart enough to see the writing on the wall, and hoped that would protect him from TFG's foes, but he's every inch Republican, and we all know that there are no moderate Republicans drawing breath here or anywhere else. His "heartbeat" anti-abortion law, refusal to expand Medicaid, voter suppression rules (that mostly didn't work), and anti-woke mouthing keep him solidly in the camp of the right.
I'm hoping that the Georgia fake electors and election deniers still in D.C. will be called out and prosecuted, at least by Fani Willis.
Nancy, you took the words right out of my mouth. Kemp may not have mentioned Frump, but he’s damn sure running his game on us here in Georgia. And yes, he had t n e voting laws changed to the point where I, a totally disabled man that’s homebound had to go through hell to get my ballot mailed to me, plus I called several times after I mailed it to make sure it had been received. Getting it was a pain in my a$$, but I finally received it less C than 10 days before the election, and runoff.
Underneath that outer shell of the Kemp that is shown to everyone is the true Governor Kemp that is going tight by TFGs playbook.
K.paschal, thank you for this ray of hope. I live for the day that MTG and her ilk are banished - permanently - in the way that Gwinnett County has evolved.
Let's just imagine what the next (hopefully not) MAGA president might do. Probably take poorly thought out actions that would provoke a serious confrontation with China. They're not good at governing and, in fact, don't believe it. But they're good at saying outrageous things for attention and to confuse the American people.
When your belief is that the Rapture / End Times are imminent, and you and your friends will be the only ones “saved”, hastening the End is a policy objective.
Did you see (or hear) her complaining because shes only getting paid $174,000/salary? And has so much of her time spent in Congress - used to make much more in her "gym" business! That should be on a billboard - where it cannot be ignored.
Imagine Maggie how that would look on a highway billboard to those living under the radar in tents cardboard houses and camper cities raising families, saving their propane for just the coldest nights and that hour getting ready to go to school or work. Poor Baby.
Yuhh.., I agree Penfist, and would only offer this: MTG's turdworld comment was hardly even worthy of note let alone printspace. If it weren't for her conspicuity, i.e., big mouth, blonde-hair, and other lesser photogenic attributes serving to help feed the media's need for smut, it would seem her titular performance sure wouldn't warrant any. Unfortunately, her looney behavior, along with that of other "un-mentionables" helps swell the ranks of an evolving reality of a different kind. Un-governable.
We are staying in an RV resort outside N. Myrtle Beach, and witnessed the balloon as it slowly passed overhead, with at least 2 jets doing racetrack passes around it from time to time. We then saw the shoot-down happen in front of our eyes as we had lunch outdoors, and I was able to video it. It was thrilling to watch.
I saw several shiny pieces of instruments (apparently) falling from the sky, reflecting the sun as they fell, along with the balloon fabric -- this despite the fact it happened 60,000 feet up and several miles down range from us. I totally get the decision to delay the destruction until it was safely over the ocean.
It was very cool to be a witness to history today.
Sauron my friend how I have missed you. Did you reclaim your precious ring? Never mind these mortals who persist in misunderstanding your damaged intellect. You will be made whole when the rings are united. Your malevolence will destroy their pitiful democracy. Oh mighty one I am in fealty forever. Bill. Be warned these mortals punish those employing identity theft. You should let the real Gandalf go if he is still imprisoned. Bill Baggins.
No but, the topic of Platform liability is before SCOTUS in the 3rd week of February 2023. The issues will not be resolved by any means because the 'cases in controversy' only involve Google & Twitter & Section 230. Substack Inc & its Authors owe 3rd party duties to "Readers"with an ADR clause, Alternative Dispute Resolution. Do you wish to engae JAMS?
Very sensitive. They wanted it to be above the ocean for 1. protection of people 2. be able to gather data from it. You are so nothing like Hobbit magic.
I have no particular insight into this event, but I'll offer the opinion that this balloon, and our response to it, had certain strategic value. For the Chinese, that it's them giving the middle finger to the US while awaiting Blinken's visit, and watching for our response (weakness, if we go anyway,) as well as to see how soon we engage it militarily.
For us, it was an opportunity to observe and determine/ monitor the onboard instrumentation (which perhaps has less use than their spy satellites anyway), see if the balloon was controllable in any way, and follow its track.
As to any comparisons to the previous admin, I'll only say that we again have a president who respects the counsel of the military, who advised him to wait. TFFG would have gleefully blown it up over a populated area just to blame the resulting carnage on "Chyyy-nah". He sadly had little respect for our forces, save what could be shown in a Stalinistic military parade in DC. And let's not forget about his 'dead soldiers are losers' quote.
GandalfGrey, Overall, we rate the Babylon Bee a satire website based on proper identification that generates satirical content based on Christian and conservative politics.
I’m sure that the US military, or an alphabet agency of some kind, was able to jam it successfully, or even better, turn it into a ‘double agent’ and send back false information.
As for the event not being reported in the media for the 4 previous occasions, (of which we are now aware - there are bound to have been more,) it is entirely possible the information was classified and was never leaked. How was this siting relayed to the media? Was it leaked? Was it observed by a member of the public?
It was observed by a large number of people in its flight path and photographed. That was one big balloon. The media had fun with it. The military were not too concerned about it (for obvious reasons). I would love to have been with the folks who saw it safely shot down in shallow waters where it is easily accessible. It was an interesting diversion from sucky weather (where I live) and from the now mundane activities in WaDC. In its own way, it was entertaining. It made us look good and it made China look foolish.
Oh, I meant to add: this was an excellent discussion until people let GG wiggle his way into disrupting it. Friends, GG's primary purpose for being here is to do just that: disrupt thoughtful conversations. In the past we have successfully managed it by simply ignoring him/her/it/they. Let's give that a try, as Heather is taking time off and shouldn't need to be running interference. The less GG here, the better the discussion becomes. Please don't feed the trolls.
You won't have to ignore me because my subscription runs out tomorrow. LOL
It remains to be seen whether the discussion improves here. I wish you all the best.
This has been like an adventure to a foreign culture where the natives do not all welcome outsiders. There have been a few less wary folks and several who seem to like my ideas. I've got my own Substack page to maintain, so I will be attending to that while still exploring a few other native lands in which I have found of interest.
Rupert Gethin:
"As long as there is attachment to things that are unstable, unreliable, changing and impermanent, there will be suffering when they change, when they cease to be what we want them to be.
If craving is the cause of suffering, then the cessation of suffering will surely follow from 'the complete fading away and ceasing of that very craving' its abandoning, relinquishing, releasing, letting go."
So you are OK with the Trump administration withholding such information so he could buddy up with China? Since when do Democrats emulate Trump policy? What about the prior incursion during the Biden administration, withheld information just like Trump?
Are you in favor of the intelligence community censoring American media? This information affects politics between our parties and our relations with other countries. Do the contents of the Twitter files have any meaning to you or are you as obtuse as our esteemed media?
I'm not okay with much of anything the previous administration did. On the one hand, you call the media "obtuse" (I don't necessarily disagree with that) and on the other you criticize the intelligence community and President Biden for "censoring" American media. Why would you want certain info, probably classified, handed over to obtuse media?
The whole concept of an intelligence community conducting covert operations in foreign lands, interfering with foreign elections was once repulsive to liberal minded folks. Now it seems the Democrat Party supports it to the extent that they turn a blind eye to these agencies engaging in the same tactics right here at home.
There should be some frank discussion about whether we can continue to operate such agencies in this manner. They have assumed a role which is above the scrutiny of our constitutional republic. They have interfered with our own elections the same way they have interfered with foreign elections.
I don't have the answer to this question: How can we have agencies harboring secrets which must also be kept secret from the client, the citizens of this nation? If I ran a company with an agency that did this behind my back they would be fired immediately.
This is what Eisenhower and Kennedy warned us about.
I hope that answers your question. I hope someone is willing to at least discuss it rationally, and perhaps some genius will come up with an answer. If it we don't talk about it, it will not get better, and probably will get worse.
If you are so worried about our "intelligence community" perhaps you could do what Trump did. Tell his own people to f off and just ask Putin. He'll tell us the truth, right?
Since tfg told thousands and thousands of lies, does that mean he would be experienced in recognizing those told by someone else? I don't think so. As long as anyone kisses up to him, that person can do or say anything and tfg will think it's wonderful.
We care about reality. And we really care when our President declares a mass murderer and invader of sovereign nations to be more reliable than his own countrymen. And we really care when that President has a completely private meeting with this wannabe Stalin - no notes, no records. Just a private chat. Helsinki sealed the deal for anyone who ever had any doubts about the Russia connection to the Trump Organization. But hey, they were probably just chatting about the height of the hotel 45 had been dreaming of for years.
I think their more recent chats have been less about hotels than about the furnishings of Trumps dacha - where he will host Ye and Fuentes. I bet the caviar on the cheeseburgers will be epic.
It's not paranoia when these agencies have already been outed manipulating political discourse. Russian bots are nothing in comparison to the misinformation we are getting from our own secret agencies.
You may be happy trusting them, but they have been proven to be misinforming their own client, we the people. That's not paranoia.
I live in Montana under the path of the 🎈. Rs are so upset. Our military and intelligence communities have long prepared for this. Actually it is an intelligence boon for us. It hovered over our ICBM site here in MT but our military knows how to protect against such intrusions. Our possession of it is a black eye for China. I am guessing the F-22 pilot had fun. Now let's move on children (Rs).
All of these political and "spy vs spy" games! I wouldn't be surprised to learn that we tracked that balloon all the way from launch and recorded everything it told the mother ship (likely a satellite) in order to gain our own intelligence. Other balloons we've never been told about may well have been intercepted. Would be hilarious if we could grab one, attach a paper bag filled with doggy do do and reprogram it to fly home and land on Xi's lawn with the payload.
Ah, we've met before Gandolf. Or is it Gollum? I won't take your bait, other than to say that I'd be surprised if your portly orange former "president" was necessarily even aware of any of this on his watch, occupied as he was with all the other shiny objects surrounding his crib.
Security is not security when they are actively misinforming the client. They have gone rogue and we cannot have secret agencies running the joint. That is too much power and it is not constitutional. They are trying to place themselves above the constitution and you seem unconcerned.
I would like to see electronic billboards in every (red?) state critiquing the ever-changing R conspiracies. It would have to constantly scroll to keep up with the next, greatest conspiracy. DJT: I would never have allowed this. Fact: it happened three times on your watch, which you would know if you attended your daily briefings.
Perhaps you’d be better off asking the same of GandalfGrey.
A troll is a troll is a troll. Without a troll being exposed the trolling will continue. And all a troll wants to do is suck someone in, anyone; to get them to engage with him, get someone to reply about the content of his off the wall remarks. When others will engage with him by replying to the content of his posts it feeds his desire for attention and furthers his trolling.
(Fwiw unfortunate the “troll alert” replies were meant to show up directly under the trolls comments, but didn’t thus appearing like they were made one after another. If you follow the vertical line up you’ll find the incendiary troll’s comment they were meant to expose.)
Some guy yesterday was saying that there were a hundred ways to take down the balloon and why didnt Biden do anything sooner.
I wrote that the Pentagon wanted to shoot it down over the ocean so no one or anything would get trashed.
He replied that he had read what the administration had fed the media.
So I said good conspiracy theory there.
He came back and said well they could have used a helicopter with a tether or a big net.
So I replied, yeah but how you get those up over 60,000 feet?
Next thing I know, the guy whose page it was made a big note on his post that he wouldn't let anyone say that what people are saying was a conspiracy because we didn't know what really happened.
Sad to say, the guy is now one of those acquaintances that I will not post anything on his page ever again.
And you know what else the Chinese learned? That we have a lot of gullible people.
JL, yes about the sales pitch but too many BELIEVE the pitch....because it is easier than thinking for themselves......or having "friends" talk about them or not invite them to the party, etc., etc.
Those characteristics that make people susceptible to believing in mythical deities, make them gullible to believing in the lies told by Republican lies.
100%. The most dangerous thing that TFG has taught McConnel and McCarthy. Stick to the script, and 38% of the population will believe it. Manafort brought this back to DC from decades teaching dictators and despots how to do just that.
I think that watching the world go by on TV and similar media encourages us as a society to remain passive spectators, including contemplation of what comes next. Self-governance can't work that way.
Once again, I'm so, so grateful for HCR--snarky or not snarky--and so, so fed up with most of the media. Everything political is some kind of game, with winners and losers, and people like Taylor-Greene, Gaetz, and Goser get coverage with no context.
If you live in MT where all three of our congressional representatives are MAGA. Daines is one of them . Also Zinke whose post really hyped the hysteria & he, being X military should know better. His post striped him bare naked of why he should not be in Congress
I lived in Idaho for a while in Salmon where it was not uncommon for open carry in grocery stores & library. We then moved,unrealized, to the theocracy of Ravalli Co
Yes side arms were the norm in Salmon not long ago. I also lived in Darby for awhile working on Como Dam. Such a pretty place. Surprisingly it was a non threatening kinder time.
They not only don’t check their facts, they make up lies to complement their spin machine. Tiresome but effective with the MAGAt degenerates, and apparently our MSM. Everett Dirksen was the last Repub that I recall living in the real world…
There was another Republican in Ohio many years ago who would have been drummed out of the current MAGA GOP - George Voinovich. He served as Mayor of Cleveland, Governor of Ohio and U.S. Senator from Ohio. Unfortunately, there aren't many more like that gentleman around these days.
( this comment was made after reading Billie Johnson's comment) Hey, hey, hey...watch your mouth! You KNOW the R's don't give a flying futz about "facts"...even Reagan called facts "stupid things". /s/
T L Mills - "even Reagan called facts 'stupid things'".
John Adams, our second president, famously said: "𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." In a 1988 slip of the tongue, Ronald Reagan said: "𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴."
He got his words confused, which is:
• Something we all do.
•Something we do especially when the words are scripted for us - as was often the case with Reagan and sounds like the case with this.
•Symptomatic of many conditions such as Alzheimer’s… but it is something we all do anyway so no reason for suspicion in itself.
Ironically, he therefore proved that facts are not stubborn, but slippery things.
Because:
It is a fact that he said it.
It doesn’t mean that he meant it.
The fact is - it was just one of those stupid things.
(This comment was meant for Mr. Boyd.) If you are a Reagan fan...well, I'm sorry, but I think it was either a Freudian slip or Reagan meant exactly what he said--he was NOT smart enough to quote John Adams--although it's true that he was, as a former B (and C) movie actor, competent enough at memorizing scripts. Reagan's handlers worked very hard indeed to disguise Dutch Reagan's utter lack of intellectual curiosity.
Reagan was quite the debater. His good humor was his greatest asset in debate. He was also one of our greatest Presidents, and millions of Americans agree.
You have no basis for your assertion or your assessment of his value.
Sure they do. They need to know what to ignore. And/or develop their "alternative facts" with which to develop their attacks. They are like rabid dogs. Incapable of anything other than snarling and biting.
Someday, maybe, some previously gullible voters might ask the GQP stooges: "What have you done for us lately? This anti-everything/everybody babble has been fun, but my life is not getting better..."
Anti-everything is a requirement for being a Democrat. Once the Civil Rights and War protests ended, the great protest movements were hijacked by politicians as foot soldiers for many less worthy causes. But the bands and the weed were great! Praise big pharma, we're getting the band back together for a vax party!
The result is obvious in many of the comments here. Surely it is tiring protesting for the sake of protest, and it will not improve your life or the lives of others one iota.
Some of us with a shred of moral fiber are still protesting about civil rights (shrinking thanks to the Extreme Court) and off budget stupid wars we are still paying for.
We protest because we are not going to get rolled over by the Oligarchs and their culture war puppets.
We will prevail. Demographics and simple human fairness are on our side. C'mon over. We are friendly when we are not outraged by lies, lies and more lies.
That's mighty kind Bill. Thank you for the invitation but I've been there and it was great when it was good. It's just gone bad and I won't be part of it.
I left during the Kavanaugh insurrection and won't be back.
Trolls get not "happy" as a systemic symptom; review the "Reader" rights section of your Contract with Substack Inc again. I am aware you are scrolling down the comments. Do not project your "not happy" on to Others.
You think the 'Author" is the content moderation department policed in Mediation? I assume you have some concept of the diligent work that it takes to build a remarkable digital Community? Right, that's why you are here ... to rip-off LFAA.
IMHO his point in trolling here is the bright light coming from LFAA is blinding to him. They don’t understand that throwing out 💩 doesn’t diminish that light one tiniest bit.
If only the Republicans could just be happy the balloon was brought down safely and the information attainable. This constant school yard brawl is so tiring :/
Yes! I saw a poll last week on Morning Joe, that showed almost 80% of Americans agree with you. Then the poll broke the poll down by party including Independents, the Republicans in the House are definitely paying a price for their antics so far, because less than 15% of Independents place blame on Dems and Republicans have extremely high disapproval ratings. As Joe Said, the Republicans just aren't getting the Message and they keep losing!
The horrifying thing about “Authoritarian/Totalitarianism is that polls and public opinion does not matter
Control is what matters. They are well on their way to achieving control by mindnumbing enough of the “base” to take over. Once in place, the votes of the base won’t matter
Shooting down a weapon after it has done its job is not much of an accomplishment.
No, I am not happy. I am also not happy that folks here don't mind about prior incursions being kept secret. Why were we not informed of this? Are Democrats ok with Trump keeping these incursions from the public? I'm not.
I think you missed the part about the defense dept. jamming the signals. Also the Government was not sure what toxins might be aboard and that the equipment is retrievable with a soft landing in fairly shallow water.
I'm beginning to believe that GG is a machine programmed to pick up a theme and rides it to death. Responding to it only activates it further. Better to ignore and pass over to the next post that is actually about the Letter From An American.
This reminds me of a film in the 60's "Around the World in 80 Days" there is a famous line in the movie when I believe it is travelling over India of a man sighting the balloon and yelling "It is Ballooooon!!!"
That became one of our childhood jokes when we saw something out of place "It is balloooon!!!". Point her being yes its serious but no its not. Biden took measured steps. Who gives a flying f....what MTG says or anybody in the GOP. Trump as noted had three such incidents and Trump did nothing to protect us from Russia. The GOP has no agenda but to criticize this Administration. Would not pay any attention to it. Let them bark like dogs and lets respond like the citizens and critical thinker which we are!
"Trump as noted had three such incidents and Trump did nothing to protect us from Russia."
He surely would have only made things much worse. People like Mark Milley seem to know what they are doing. Anyway, a spy balloon from Russia would probably have made Trump feel more secure. He would have blown a kiss.
Step One: take a personal vow to turn off whatever medium is bringing mtg to your personal space. I did that for three years when shrub was prez. I hated his creepy little voice; but once I was trapped in a chair at the hairdresser's and shrub came on the news. I had to mentally shout BlahBlahBlah, and then I took up my vow again. Much more peaceful than raging about him.
Just had dinner with a dear friend whose very well educated, a really great guy, an efficient coworker everyone wanted on their team, but who had bought into the MAGA conspiracy culture. He doubts the balloon was really Chinese, asserting that it was launched by Biden's administration so it could manufacture a crisis. Our country has at least two realities being presented to the public, and intelligence alone is not an inoculation against bull spit.
Same with the smartest person I have known. It started with the Rupert bull Schitt in the 90’s and metastasized long before chump. He was just the icing on the toxic cake. Of course, I have known that smart can also be crazy since I worked at jr high.
Oh Man. And then there are ¨those¨ who bring us to the reality of the task at hand. I'm so sorry. You're a better man than I am Gunga Din. I can not have anyone as a friend who believes such nonsense.
That is simply astonishing. "bought into the MAGA conspiracy culture." That explains an awful lot; I am applying that to most of my former colleagues who have absolutely jumped the shark with what they are believing is truth.
I have said this before but am reiterating it now.There are no good Rs. After all that has happened and these people stand behind their traitorous oral dysentery I cannot abide by any of them.Anyone with an ounce of integrity would have resigned from this hateful, lying “party”(cult) or would have retired or have gone Independent.
"RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party..."
JL, I have always respected people who were strong enough to take a stand especially at such personal cost for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. There is still some "courage" and "honor" remaining in this country.
This comment is not about the balloon, it's about a windbag. The House Republicans' most prominent female clown recently complained that her job is too hard and her salary is too low. Coincidentally, I've been thinking what a terrible waste of taxpayer money it is to pay insurrectionists like her $174,000 a year when all she's good for is trolling, spreading lies, making stupid racist comments and promoting hate.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of her constituents think she’s a great investment. Those people, the ones who voted for her, are the truly despicable ones. She’s just the manifestation of their wretchedness.
I think that many are primarily foolish and I suppose egotistically beguiled. So many of our compatriots are involved we will have to deal with it somehow. I think that at the root of the complete corruption of the former "Party of Lincoln" is big, big money. Evangelical Trump supporters seem to want to forget that Timothy called "the love of money" "the root of all evil". I assume that "love" in this case refers to that which you care about most of all, and will put other things aside for, such as the common weal, other's fates, or one's soul.
I recommend watching the documentary “The Family”. It’s on Netflix. Big, Big money is just part of it. The faux-christian ethos of “The Chosen Few” as the ones worthy of all forgiveness and support. ( Ironically I don’t ever remember any of this “grace” being shown to a Dem). But the others are just dealing in life with what “Jesus” says they deserve, so we should not focus on helping them. Super-Jacked-Up-Patriarchy as the means to governing. Taliban on the Potomac, I say.
Yes, but then combine that with Lehaye’s Apocalypse series, the mega church epidemic, foreign enemies feeding off these vulnerable minds, demagogues winning elections, Mike Flynn using everything he learned from the Jihads to throw gas on the dopamine highs of being in a tribe fighting against what you deem to be evil, then here we are, rhyming with our effing dark history all over again.
“Matthew Avery Sutton, a history professor at Washington State University and author of American Apocalypse, noted that Donald Trump, knowingly or not, tapped into a century of end-times beliefs by quarreling with NATO and criticizing the FBI and the “deep state.” In the Left Behind book series, which was published in the ’90s and early 2000s and which has had an enormous impact on how many Christians conceptualize the apocalypse, the Antichrist turns out to be a politically savvy secretary-general of the United Nations, which is then converted into a single world government.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/rapture-apocalypse-books-christian-publishing-trump-qanon.html
Curiously, if there is any force to which the epithet "deep state" is applicable on a world-wide basis, and present as a powerful component of human events throughout history, it is plutocracy. Take the East India Company for example. Or the Iraq War. Would we really have invaded if the principal economic product of Iraq had been cabbages? The Spice Wars? Why would Balzac have remarked “Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.”? What is retarding front and center progress on the climate crisis? What warps the Democratic Party and owns the Republican Party, lock, stock and barrel?
I think super jacked up patriarchy, in whatever culture is at the core of classic authoritarianism, and simplistic as it sounds, power tends to corrupt. Perhaps there is a genetic predisposition to bully, and while it's more commonplace and problematic for men, there are girls and women who bully. I think the root of the preponderance of avoidable human suffering is abuse of power.
It seems to me that we all, of necessity pursue self-interest, but self-interest becomes toxic, even sociopathic when it runs the whole show, which is what we are seeing when any cluster of human beings begins to assure each other that they are superior to everybody else, master race, dominant sex, true religion, most worthy nation, etc. Notice how many nations claim divine superiority, and how many grandiose and brutal tyrants do.
No surprise that despite complaining about her current paycheck, Marjorie wasn't getting paid nearly as much from her family business in 2019 as she's getting now from the government. She was paid a $100,000 salary in 2019. However, the article says she doesn't appear to have done much work for the company despite what she said in her ads when running for Congress.
So I guess when you're used to getting paid $100,000 for doing almost nothing, trotting up and down the halls and aisles of the House agitating for Qanon, broadcasting conspiracy theories, lying and hating must seem like a lot of work.
And yeah, what if election to office was a great honor and an exceptional opportunity to serve one's country, as opposed to a way to get rich? Or rich-er.
What ever became of the concept of "conflicts of interest"? Or putting the public's interests first?
As much as anything "The Reagan Revolution" was a coup over diverse, broadly empowering regulated media. I think it has been recognized since the earliest days of the republic that a wise and just society depends on a well informed public. We have been far too blase about right-wing media takeovers and institutionalized lying. I think we as a society have not fought hard enough for the truth, insofar as humans are able to approximate it, and lies, if one is provably lying, are always a deliberate choice. Lies will always be with us, and some lies are trivial, perhaps even advisable, but weaponized lies kill; as in war, as in racism, as they have in our appalling, outlier COVID death rate. Lies could pave the way to our own extinction as a species; and for what?
Oh, but believe they do. Not from any sort of concrete, informed, and thoughtful perusal of information, but their "sincerely held belief" in whatever tasty morsel is put in front of them.
In a world replete with lies and nonsense a strategy for identifying trustworthy information is a survival skill for individuals and societies. I am grateful for education, and my wife was a teacher, but I think we are only formally taught these skills obliquely where, I believe, they ought to be central. Just for example (apart from the ludicrous liars we vote into office) is the exceptionally high COVID death rate in the USA, one of the most technologically advanced societies. It it mad and tragic how many more peopled died of the virus plus misinformation. Evidence based virology is well established, and the simple truth is the virus has no legs and to do its dirty work must hitch a ride. Not to mention, after seeing images of kids in "iron Lungs", the relief I felt as a kid in the 1950s for the first polio vaccines. With COVID, the war smolders on, but at least we have some partial respite, and protocols to limit widening infection.
My general impression (as a kid that took to "science" between the ages of 3 and 4) is that we teach kids a lot of information they are unlikely to ever need (including in "Science" if they are not on a track for STEM) but fail to sufficiently instill habitual methods for identifying likely-to-be-reliable information among alternatives. The core of science is not a cluster of technical subjects and findings, it is a method of uncovering and producing useful, verifiable well-educated guesses about what is real. And that process, that skill, be it in a court of law, in filling out a ballot, shopping in a store, etc., transcends the value of the answers that win prizes in quiz shows.
I recall my daughter complaining of an undergraduate course she was taking at a prestigious state university that when she asked the instructor about the function of a certain muscle, she was told "Remember it for the test and don't worry about what it does". It seems to be that mass testing methods select for the incurious. I also know a of some skilled teachers who gave up the profession due to politicized constraints.
“People have a choice whether to believe lies or not” Most of us choose to lie to ourselves to some degree on many days. It’s a psychological defense mechanism called denial. I used to lament that I wished I was better at using it, perhaps I could avoid depression. I think it’s the emotional resilience we build in our formative years that determines how proficient we become at using denial to avoid emotional pain? But I’m not a psychologist. 🤷🏻♀️
That would be great. But I believe she's serving her second two year term now. And if she wants to get a pension, she has to work 5 full years. So she'd have to run for one more term. She may be complaining about not getting paid more, but I'd be surprised if she doesn't want to get a pension from the government at 62 no matter what the amount.
While catching up on my emails, I am watching “DARK MONEY” a 2018 documentary on the impact from Citizens United and is chilling. Please watch it. This would have been remedied by the Freedom to Vote: john R Lewis Act but these villains have been manipulating the political processes and denying our rights to vote and setting up very real barriers to voting. YOU will be horrified... please watch and then help us to fight back and reinstate our values: the right to vote for all Americans
Thank you Heather for the synopsis. I think at this point, we can all say that no matter what Biden chose to do, the Republicans would criticize him. Since they have nothing constructive to do with their time, it seems, putting an untruthful spin on everything is their only form of mental exercise. I qualify my own statement by adding that is if they have any mental abilities to exercise!
The readers of Le Monde have been having a bit of fun with this. "That balloon could be very dangerous. What if it's full of dragons?" "So how's the weather in Beijing? Cold and crisp here." "The mean things, they've destroyed our lovely balloon!"
As a former Foreign Service Officer (and history professor) I find the Chinese intelligence balloon and its aftermath puzzling.
On the surface, Chinese satellites and hi-tech surveillance should provide ample military intelligence without relying on several free-floating ‘intelligence balloons.’ I don’t know why they launched these balloons, especially just before a scheduled high-level meeting in Beijing with the American Secretary of State.
Why did President Biden, after a few days of equivocation, seize on this incident to ‘postpone’ high-level talks?
My hunch is that this is part of high-stakes diplomatic poker game between China and the United States. In recent years China has been highly aggressive in its nationalist ‘imperialism’ in Asia, especially in the South China Sea. It also has sought to weaken America’s role there and elsewhere, with Taiwan being a frightening possible trigger point.
In a battle between giants, image is often as important as a hard-facts- scorecard. President Biden has carefully orchestrated an increasing American response to China’s political, military, and economic outreach. Most recently our SecDef was in the Philippines to expand our military presence there. Domestically, the Republicans have jumped on the ‘stand up to China’ bandwagon.
So why did Biden choose a minor ‘intelligence balloon’ incident to postpone a long-planned meeting of principles in Beijing? Perhaps it was a public message that
1) we are not intimated by President Xi’s China;
2) we are dealing from strength rather than weakness; and
3) we are showing our Asian allies that we have balls!
Dave I played a form of ‘psychological warfare’ when I was the first person to publicly rate the credit of Japan (1974-1975). A big issue was ‘kan’—this was the upper hand, which the Japanese assumed that they held.
I forcefully engaged in disabusing them of this. By my bold actions I discombobulated them. In this context, score one for the Biden team vs. the Xi team. I can hear the XI folks now: ‘Hey, Biden isn’t playing our game fairly.’ My response: ‘Well, fluck you.’
Dave I think your timing is a bit off. In 1974 I visited Honda where their pride & joy was, I believe, a 1500cc motorcycle. Their first Civics had a problem of engines catching on fire. They corrected this and moved stealthily to the Accord and Acura. My management consulting company located Honda’s first plant in USA.
The final two choices were Marysville, OH and Chillicothe, PA. Since the Japanese project manager couldn’t pronounce Chillicothe, Marysville got it.
Perhaps timing is off a bit, in any event Deming had been working with Toyoda since the sixties and was tranforming the quality culture using statistics to control process. America was making low quality Vegas, Pintos, Pacers that rusted out in a couple of years. Subaru was making inroads despite the Riceburner derogatory
US Auto mfg began implementing practices from the GE Quality manual in the early 80’s based entirely on the recognition that the Japanese were on to something. Quality up until then was a hodgepodge of inconsistent practices that fsiled tegularly. I was among the first front line supervisors to be involved in the new SPC training of on line workers
My original stemmed from the knowing pride with which the Japanese held their accomplishments and your activities in kind. They were maybe a bit too proud
Dave In the late 1970s thrifty Keith bought a cheap Chevy (Chevette?) that had to be towed five times. Silly me, thinking that a car should run. Then I bought a Honda Accord. Bliss, until I was rear ended and my four door became two door. Bought another Honda—bliss.
Incidentally, this morning I had breakfast in the building that had been my local Chevy dealer. The food was much better than his autos.
Thank you Keith for opening eyes to the complexity beyond what is known. We’re drowning in arm chair quarterbacks on foreign policy. When the entire essence of Intelligence is “foreign secrets” it’s always seemed a bit silly to think I had any idea what was really going on in real time. (With the exception of past behaviors can predict future behaviors, especially as in a well known malignant narcissist’s behaviors)
Christy Don’t be intimidated by the mystique of ‘foreign secrets.’ Much of what is going on can be understood by scrutinizing geopolitics, economics, and human nature. A lot of this is available in history and broad reading. Many of the international hissy fits are because of individuals who are more concerned with themselves than the national interests of their countries. [Trump, Putin, Orban]
The next time that some pompous person tells you ‘it’s too complicated for you to understand.’ Simply reply PSHAW! If they truly understood it, why would the world be in such a mess?
I am astonished that I have seen no opinion pieces in the New York Times or Washington Post on this ‘intelligence balloon’ diplomacy. I believe that I got Biden’s thinking right—that it’s a shot across Xi’s bow—-the United States doesn’t buy into your ‘superiority’ horse shit.
Kudos to Biden, and may the Republicans stew in their own scummy juice.
I seems pretty silly for the Chinese to use a balloon for much of anything other than a dramatic or symbolic decoy. They must understand it will be seen and taken for parts?
During enforced containment due to our abrupt change of weather, I entertained myself (between trips to the woodpile) by listening to various reports and commentaries on the balloon. I guess the media wanna-bes couldn't find much out about it, so resorted to the customary conjectural analysis, almost none of which contained anything of substance. Love your line " ...image is often as important as a hard-facts- scorecard." In a nutshell. Thanks, friend, for laying it out so succinctly. This is not headline news. It's just that this time it got noticed at a time when the only national headline was "Northeast experiencing wind chill of -45F", which one can only run so many times.
I’m liking snarky Heather, maybe we can make it a Saturday tradition???
Thanks as always!
Snarky Heather is like Dark Brandon. Both badly needed for these times.
Casey,
Speaking of "Dark Brandon", (an ostensibly bad guy about to to bad things) here is an article from the Wall Street Journal capturing the now ancient, at 81, George Will and his current perspectives on government. Compare Will's wild ravings to Dr. Richardson's perspective on government.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-right-turned-left-parties-democracy-progressive-conservative-capitalism-marx-history-11675452169?mod=opinion_lead_pos5
Mr. Will says, “that a market-based capitalist society of spontaneous order—I’m using Hayekian language—is good for the soul. People used to say ‘An armed society is a polite society’—if everyone had a Colt on their hip or a dagger on their belt, they’d be polite to each other. Well I think a commercial society is a polite society.”
Hayekian language? What? If we ALL just treat each other as if we (each) are a deadly threat to (each other) everything will be great??? Now, that is actually the most cogent statement in a wandering article with more ravings from what sounds like a madman.
I read the article twice. The first time I thought the incoherent, outrageously nutty nature of the article might be my own reading depth. So, I read it again carefully.
George Will, never of sound mind, and never a very good writer, but, as a white man able to stay gainfully employed at the Washington Post most likely because he had a rich Dad with some stroke, is positively off the rails as an old man.
To quote Mary Engelbreit, "May we all have the confidence of a mediocre white man." Or, to paraphrase the Hippies, Arming for civility is like f***ing for virginity.
OMG! I am laughing so hard at this!!!!!
Me too!
I am quoting you!
Love ME and you for quoting her!
I was never impressed by George Will's thinking.
Hence the tradition of shaking with your right hand & when setting a table turning the edge of the knife facing the plate.. I prefer namaste
According to the preface of my current favorite cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen by Hannah Che, the earliest Chinese "restaurants" were Buddhist monastery kitchens who fed travelers. As Buddhists, they did not believe in killing, and preferred not to have knives at table. From that belief, came the practise of cutting food before cooking it, so that eaters need only chopsticks (replaceable by forks in some countries) and spoons.
One of the things I love about being on this forum is what you can learn about different cultures from the many backgrounds here. While I worked in a lot of different countries before retirement I never made it to India. Namaste, was a new word to me, even if I had seen the gesture. Thanks.
Dave Smucker - "Namaste, was a new word to me, even if I had seen the gesture."
It's often how you know yoga class is over: The teacher faces the class with their hands together in a bow and says, "Namaste." Maybe you bow and say it back.
But that's not the only place you'll encounter "namaste." In the years since yoga became commercially popular in the United States, the word has taken on a life of its own. Namaste has found its way onto T-shirts, welcome mats, mugs, socks, pencil cases, and tote bags.
The first part of namaste comes from "namaha," a Sanskrit verb that originally meant "to bend." Deshpande says, "Bending is a sign of submission to authority or showing some respect to some superior entity." Over time, "namaha" went from meaning "to bend" to meaning "salutations" or "greetings."
The "te" in namaste means "to you," Deshpande says. So all together, namaste literally means "greetings to you." In the Vedas, namaste mostly occurs as a salutation to a divinity.
But the use and meaning have evolved. Today, among Hindi speakers throughout the world, namaste is a simple greeting to say hello.
A lot of words we use today have religious roots, but just like "adios," "inshallah" or "goodbye" (an abbreviation of "God be with ye"), it doesn't have to be that deep.
When it comes to yoga, it's a different story. The commercial yoga industry in the United States often uses "namaste" in a way that is almost completely divorced from its use in Hindi. Some yoga websites claim that namaste is "𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴" or "𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶."
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/01/17/406246770/how-namaste-flew-away-from-us#:~:text=So%20all%20together%2C%20namaste%20literally,simple%20greeting%20to%20say%20hello.
Having spent time in India and attending daily “services” at a Temple as well as one of my best friends (someone I considered my sister and to her I was her brother), had a PHD and was an American author. Her sole purpose in life was to make Hinduism better understood in the west (aka the USA). She was devoutly Hindu.
Some of your text is correct some not. Namaste to Hindus does speak to the spiritual soul of each of us, speaks to that “light” in each of us. While it gets used as a gesture essentially saying hello (much like Jai Sia Ram), it is not simply meant as a gesture of “greetings / hello” to Hindus. It is meant to acknowledge the oneness of all. As another friend stated regarding it’s meaning, “I honor that place in you, where when you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us”.
You wrote: “In the Vedas, namaste mostly occurs as a salutation to a divinity.” No, not to “a divinity/ a god”. It is a salutation to the divinity in each of us, to the divine nature of all.
Thanks,
When the Muslims of my acquaintance say "inshallah", they do mean "Gd willing". Just saying.
The light in me honors the light in you.
Exactly.
What 'conservative' thinking is ever not "off the rails". In an Earth focused on evolution and progression, they want to devolve and regress.
Sounds like somebody needs a lesson in the meaning of the phrase "civil society".
Paraphrasing Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward: 2000-1887 (published 1888), every encounter in capitalism is adversarial. (It's a good read!)
Like a voice from the past, your note made a memory pop into my mind of reading that book long, long ago. It made me think. Perhaps it is time to re-read again, and see where it takes me now, some 60+ years later. Thanks for the reminder.
I know a lot of old men that are currently off the rails and they are around George Will's age!
Sharon CORRECTION ‘’I know a lot of young men that are currently off the rails and theY are around George Will’s age.” Please be cordial to us ‘vintage males.’
Keith....you are one of my few male friends that are sane along with the majority of LFAA men. Hugs
I am quite fond of a number of vintage males. Though there are a few who get on my nerves (not really connected with the present and think that "the old way of doing things was better"). On the other hand, I see a certain number of mid-life men who are off the rails, and some women who seem to think that cozying up to them somehow validates them as women. That makes me feel ill. What gives me hope is knowing that those people trying to recreate our society in the image of their small minds have to work very very hard to be heard, and fall flat almost every time, because there are more of us than them. Eventually they will realize that. I sure hope it is during my lifetime, because I don't want to miss it.
Annie I am quite fond of a number of vintage females, especially ones named Annie (Broadway show!)
Annie, I am happy too that the very conservative complain it's hard to get their message out. My own brother,78, is one of them. Last night he sent me a PragerU video decrying this very thing. Secretly, I smiled and laughed and had a moment of hope that their difficulties would continue. But I wrote back (after not watching to the video) that people on both sides of the aisle seem to be having trouble making their message heard. It's no use entering into discussion on political issues with him any longer but I wish him well.
I like Governor Polis. I just wonder how he got elected in a state with voters who would elect Lauren Boebert.
I live in solidarity with you on Colorado's Western Slope! There's a few of us - in fact, the county I live in has gone more Independent/Democrat - so, there is hope! Not so much for Mesa and Montrose counties unfortunately.
Janet. That guy is like acid rain. Corrodes and kills.
OK, I am inspired. Let's snark away!
There was a time...long ago, so long ago. When most Americans realized that their government was doing all that it could to protect them. Even when their President was of a different party or simply a lunatic. Taking pot shots at the folks who volunteered to protect us is pathetic.
Our military and our intelligence community work 24/7 and often risk their lives for us. What do we do? We watch our big TVs getting numbed by MSM hysterically repeating someone's interpretation of someone's speculation about something they really know little about. We stare and rant at our phones, doom scrolling while we sip our lattes.
A surveillance balloon drifted over our country. Neutralizing its electronics and communication abilities would be within the abilities of many teenage hackers. So it was a terrific harmless side show. But it was the size of two or three buses. So the mature leadership of our country determined the safest place to take it down. And yet, there must be something there to criticize, right?
The "balloon gate" episode is just another way for the GQP traitors to distract Americans from their attempted coup and now their attempt at destroying the financial credibility of their own country.
I think this is a sign of their desperation. Now back to Jill and Joe's dogs, Hunter's laptop and that basement in the pizza parlor.
Have to share this on Face Book and condense it a bit to get on Twitter. GREAT response to the current bunch of "R"s in the House - all of whom need a sound spanking and then public rejection.
Thank you, Bill!
Snarky Saturday.. I like it.
Snarkurday!
Yes! Please.
I’m in!
Me too!
Aren't you dreaming up more work for Heather?
She already does more research almost daily and after hours than most do in a week.
Snark on!
:)
Saturday night snark, like swear words sparingly used in a thoughtful letter,is delightful. Bien fait.
OH! I thought you were addressing me! and I was going to correct you about the "e" at the end of Chere. I stand corrected, but share your enthusiasm for Snarky HCR. Hmmm... it's an issue. How to encourage more Snark without sacrificing the very quality of dignified restraint that we have come to know and love. Hmmm... Cher Douglas, here. (sans "e")
Why can’t she call it “ It’s Heather’s LIVE Snarky Saturday Night!”
Yeah, good one! Heather sets up the entire circus of absurdity and turns to us and says, "Live! Snarky Saturday Night!" Good one! Hopefully, when the craziness is finally crushed and HCR returns to being a college history professor she can host Snarky Saturday Night and take on the next foolishness, just not the foolishness of our current batch of fools. Keep it fresh, as long as HCR saves the world soon enough to get through this batch!
With this bunch if clowns we gave running the House of Representatives now, will this foolishness ever stop? I don’t think so. They have yet to put a decent Bill on the floor for a vote. They are still arguing and jockeying on who’s going to serve on what committee, they have no clue what to do with Santos (or whatever his name is), and MTG hadn’t completed barking her orders to McFarty keeping him totally confused, and lost.
I was gonna say that there's no reason to release the Snarken only on Saturdays.
MTG is representing all the MAGAs in their firm refusal to be a part of reality.
Unless she's in jail (and maybe even if she is) she will keep getting elected. I impatiently await the day she becomes ignorable.
You are well on your way to number one with the Marjorie song. Ignorable…Oh so unadorable. I want to take you in my arms up to the cliff side. Because you’re my Ignorable so unadorable. Oops! Oh oh.
If the moonlight had of been brighter….Maybe you wouldn’t have slipped … Over that cliff… Oh baby you said that you could fly…MyLittle Magapie…Just when I thought you were falling for me… you fell into the sea… our time together was so ignorable so unadorable altogether deplorable.
Pat, these posts have made my day. Since I live in Georgia, although thankfully not in MTG's district, I would love to see "Little Magpie" flapping her wings, to no avail, ignorable and unadorable creature that she is.
I sought refuge in Marietta rather than overnight in Atlanta. Georgia is the southern crossroads of trucking where all roads lead to Atlanta. There are very fine people there.
I moved here from New England over 50 years ago. Obviously, I like it. There has been a huge influx of people moving here over the years, and I'm hopeful that eventually the MTGs here will become irrelevant.
love that..is it a quote I should know?
No Janet, I am an old man making snowshoes so he can climb up on the continental divide, sleep in a snow drift, write foolish songs, and have a moment.
Pat, you remind me of my father who would often say in fun, "I 'm a poet and I know it 'cause my feet are " Longfellows"
Namaste
And he's got rhythm! Bing, rather than Ol' Blue Eyes.
🎼🎶😂
Can't we get "deplorable" in there, too?
You're just superfluous, too superfluous for words Like "ignorale", "unadorable" and that old standby "deplorable"
That's just too marvelous. ;-)
...Supercilious....you're a pompuss little tart, you're supercilious, just a haughty little fart... your supercilious...
Just for you
Snark award... :-]
Slipsies, ulp done .
I live in MTG's district, we are a rapidly growing exurb of metro Atlanta. Many businesses are locating out here and subdivisions and schools are popping up everywhere changing our area from pastoral to suburban. The professionals moving this way tend to be educated and liberal..things will change eventually.
I used to live in Rome and taught at one of the colleges there, which is in MTG's district. It was the first place I came to after living in Europe for nearly 20 years. To come from one of the most liberal societies, The Netherlands, to one that was SO conservative was quite the culture shock. Though the people I was around were all of a like mind politically and socially, nevertheless one could not escape that we were surrounded on all sides by people with a decidedly different view of the world. You learn quickly how to manage and get along with people of all stripes. For me it was an enormous adjustment as I returned to the US feeling very much like a foreigner.
The energy of Atlanta's northward spread had for years been its strongest going in a north and northeast direction for about 50 miles, following what is called the "I-85 corridor". For years in the '90s, the northern part of Gwinnett county and the southern part of my home county (Hall) were cited as THE fastest growing areas in the entire country. (When we moved here in 1956, the county had like 35,000 people. It's now over 220,000.) The northwestern expansion has been more recent, especially apparent in the past 20 years or so, and had largely left Rome untouched, but that has now changed. A county to the south of Rome's Floyd county, Cobb, for years in the '70s and '80s had been pretty solidly red--it was the area that produced Newt Gingrich. It was very White and very Republican. That has ALL changed and the county has become a Democratic stronghold. The trends do show rapid political shifts in some of the outer-most counties in the 26-county "conurbation", as it is called. Truly, it is only a matter of time before political winds and demographics can shift in the 14th district and extremists like MTG will surely be voted out. In the last election, the guy running against her was not, IMO, the strongest candidate the Democrats could put up. A more moderate Democrat--and I really HATE to say it, but one who's White--who also might be able to capture some of the moderate Independent and Republican votes, COULD conceivably be MTG's undoing. Fingers crossed this can happen sooner rather than later!
Bruce, I grew up in a suburb of Boston, and we've lived in Gwinnett County since 1975. Because of Gwinnett's rapid growth from other parts of the country, the population has become increasingly more diverse and liberal, making our county Democratic. I've observed the same phenomenon in Cobb. Like you, I believed that Marcus Flowers had no chance of beating MTG in the midterms, regardless of the donations (including mine) that he raised. Still, the outrageousness of Greene and the far right will eventually destine them to obscurity. I hope I live to see that day.
"From your lips to God's ears!..."
Bruce, although this is not on topic, I am wondering whether you have recently received a copy of "The Epoch Times," a newspaper described by the NYT as "[S]ince 2016, the Falun Gong-backed newspaper has used aggressive Facebook tactics and right-wing misinformation to create an anti-China, pro-Trump media empire." We received a copy recently, and my guess is that we're not the only recipients. It was specifically addressed to my attention. Creepy!
😀
According to my friend Susan that lives in Carrollton...there are alot of crazy Republicans in that county of Carroll.
Absolutely! From what I've been told, Caroll County is blood red - in every respect! Gwinnett County, where we live, used to be extremely conservative. Years ago (1980's), one of my sons was with friends, roaming through the woods near Stone Mountain. That night, there was a huge news broadcast, relating that a white supremacist who was being sought for the murder of Jewish radio host, Alan Berg (in Denver, I think), and was thought to be in the area. My son was terribly upset, because the photo of the fugitive looked like a person he'd seen in the woods. I immediately called the FBI, and the agent I spoke with said something along the lines of "Well, that's no surprise, since Stone Mountain was a rallying point for the KKK years ago, and there are lots of sympathizers there now." While I knew the history of Stone Mountain, and there is a huge carving on the face of the mountain of the Confederate generals in uniform on horseback, it was terribly unsettling. Fortunately, they caught the fugitive within hours, and in the last several years there have been ongoing negotiations about removing the carving or allowing the elements to destroy it. So, while we still have plenty of bigots, the tide has turned, Gwinnett County has become very diverse, and is now very BLUE!
When we first moved here in '56, then, of course, the South was still solidly Democratic, as in "Dixie-crats", very right-wing segregationists and VERY conservative. My folks, though pretty conservative, had always voted Republican even then, so were a bit against the grain here. Gwinnett then was largely rural and overwhelmingly White. Up further north there were counties that had been 100% White for decades as they had run all the Blacks out through fearmongering and intimidation. Three of them (Forsyth (just to our west), White (no joke), and Habersham) stayed that way until just over 40 years ago. As a kid, I remember seeing with my own eyes the billboard in the county seat of Forsyth county that said, "N****r, don't let the sun set on you." I may have even asked why that was, but my folks probably would have said something like, "Just because..." Now, with Atlanta's northern sprawl, Forsyth county has exploded in growth and has even far surpassed us in population, of which a sizeable proportion is Black. The KKK tried to make a stand in the early '80s, but you can see what became of that. Yes, Atlanta's growth (urban area now at 6.92 million) IS having an effect on these pockets of the Old South. We can only hope that change will continue on apace as the old die off and the new persist.
My friend is a Democrat and a transplant from Indiana and a family what were Democrats. I think since she has lived in Carrollton she has only one friend that isn't a Republican. We talk at least once a week...to keep her sane. Her husband worked for CBS that became Sony and he died nearly twenty years ago but two of their children relocated to the same area.
We have a LOT of crazies here...my brother won't even hardly go out of the house as he says you can't even go for a walk without being confronted by craziness. I haven't found it that bad, but in a place that went like 80% for T***p in '20, we do have our fair share. Just going on the website "NextDoor" is evidence enough. EVERY topic or posting, no matter how mundane or innocuous, is somehow always directed back to politics and how Biden and the Democrats are destroying the country, and how we had it so much better under T***p. Right. They bitch and moan about the local leaders and I SO badly want to remind them they're ALL Republicans and THEY elected them, so don't come crying to me! I don't go near any of them and stay out of all of that stuff. My real name is on there and I don't want to receive death threats.
Either dress like a bandido or start wearing a cowboy hat. If you are built I would go bandido. If you are slim wear the hat. Social problems solved. Smooth sailing. Confidence man. Or get a Dawgs sweatshirt and rip off the sleeves.
Bruce: Atlanta burbs will change soonish. This year 3.3 Million high school seniors will graduate nationwide followed by 3.5 M in June 2024 and so on! By 2026 about 15 Million 18-22 yr olds will be eligible to vote joined by older 2-4 college and grad students! Many competitive states have passed AVR (automatic voter registration based on the application for a driver’s license). I am trying to persuade states to broaden that by automatically including 18 yr olds in high school or college, and anyone else who has official contact with a state agency that can verify age, address, email, and personal signature. Tech folks easily can do all of that verification just like driver’s licenses. The sum of all this is that educated youth will outvote the Trumpers in 2024 and wipe out the crazy side of the Republican Party which has at most only to 2026-28 and thereafter to dominate most elections in cities, suburbs, etc in AZ, NV, CO, GA, NC, VA, MI, WI, PA, ILL, significant parts even of TX, OH, IA, FL, etc, etc!
Better be damn quick before MTG and her Trumpsters ruin this state! As long as they keep their Republican attitudes and keep a Trumpublican Governor and legislation , we’ll never get anything done for us. It will only be fir the rich.
Kemp is decidedly not pro-Trump at all and has been pretty obvious about that. In the gubernatorial race he totally shied away from even mentioning T***p. He very deftly succeeded in not antagonizing the T***p base and by doing so they could still vote for him--and they did. He tepidly endorsed Walker in the Senate runoff, but he was more or less forced to. He was definitely NOT for Walker in the Republican primary, nor did he endorse him during the November election. He was very noticeably silent about Walker until the runoff, when, being the governor, he basically HAD to endorse a Republican. The state General Assembly does still have a fair number of T***pies, though.
He was smart enough to see the writing on the wall, and hoped that would protect him from TFG's foes, but he's every inch Republican, and we all know that there are no moderate Republicans drawing breath here or anywhere else. His "heartbeat" anti-abortion law, refusal to expand Medicaid, voter suppression rules (that mostly didn't work), and anti-woke mouthing keep him solidly in the camp of the right.
I'm hoping that the Georgia fake electors and election deniers still in D.C. will be called out and prosecuted, at least by Fani Willis.
Nancy, you took the words right out of my mouth. Kemp may not have mentioned Frump, but he’s damn sure running his game on us here in Georgia. And yes, he had t n e voting laws changed to the point where I, a totally disabled man that’s homebound had to go through hell to get my ballot mailed to me, plus I called several times after I mailed it to make sure it had been received. Getting it was a pain in my a$$, but I finally received it less C than 10 days before the election, and runoff.
Underneath that outer shell of the Kemp that is shown to everyone is the true Governor Kemp that is going tight by TFGs playbook.
It’s that simple.
K.paschal, thank you for this ray of hope. I live for the day that MTG and her ilk are banished - permanently - in the way that Gwinnett County has evolved.
Ms. Estill, I boycott MTG's district. I can't cast a ballot there, so I vote with my wallet.
Let's just imagine what the next (hopefully not) MAGA president might do. Probably take poorly thought out actions that would provoke a serious confrontation with China. They're not good at governing and, in fact, don't believe it. But they're good at saying outrageous things for attention and to confuse the American people.
Easy to claim that you (or TFG) would know precisely what to do when somebody else has the responsibility of doing it. What could possibly go wrong?
Yes, remember that Putin would never have invaded Ukraine if trump had been president.
When your belief is that the Rapture / End Times are imminent, and you and your friends will be the only ones “saved”, hastening the End is a policy objective.
And lord knows, she's good at it. 🙄
And her clear reiteration of an imaginary past, using favoured formulae such as "This would never have happened if".
Or refuse to admit what they're really up to.
Touche (btw, I don't write a D4N Substack column, a funny thought though).
Did you see (or hear) her complaining because shes only getting paid $174,000/salary? And has so much of her time spent in Congress - used to make much more in her "gym" business! That should be on a billboard - where it cannot be ignored.
How good it would be for the country if she were to return to her “gym” business.
Yeah how true. Complaining about "only" $174 thousand salary really got me.
Imagine Maggie how that would look on a highway billboard to those living under the radar in tents cardboard houses and camper cities raising families, saving their propane for just the coldest nights and that hour getting ready to go to school or work. Poor Baby.
Exactly how I was picturing it!
Yuhh.., I agree Penfist, and would only offer this: MTG's turdworld comment was hardly even worthy of note let alone printspace. If it weren't for her conspicuity, i.e., big mouth, blonde-hair, and other lesser photogenic attributes serving to help feed the media's need for smut, it would seem her titular performance sure wouldn't warrant any. Unfortunately, her looney behavior, along with that of other "un-mentionables" helps swell the ranks of an evolving reality of a different kind. Un-governable.
The GOP members of the House must be so proud to have her as their representative.
We are staying in an RV resort outside N. Myrtle Beach, and witnessed the balloon as it slowly passed overhead, with at least 2 jets doing racetrack passes around it from time to time. We then saw the shoot-down happen in front of our eyes as we had lunch outdoors, and I was able to video it. It was thrilling to watch.
I saw several shiny pieces of instruments (apparently) falling from the sky, reflecting the sun as they fell, along with the balloon fabric -- this despite the fact it happened 60,000 feet up and several miles down range from us. I totally get the decision to delay the destruction until it was safely over the ocean.
It was very cool to be a witness to history today.
Very exciting to witness history!
What an incredible description. Thank you.
Thank you!
You must have felt like Luke Skywalker when he was still just a dreamy farmboy gazing skywards.
Democrats live in a world of Hollywood make believe, so the comment is quite exemplary.
Republicans live in a world of puerile, weak comebacks which fall flat on their acne-afflicted faces.
Aaannnndd he replies with more adolescent fantasy. Keep digging.
Troll Alert!
Sauron my friend how I have missed you. Did you reclaim your precious ring? Never mind these mortals who persist in misunderstanding your damaged intellect. You will be made whole when the rings are united. Your malevolence will destroy their pitiful democracy. Oh mighty one I am in fealty forever. Bill. Be warned these mortals punish those employing identity theft. You should let the real Gandalf go if he is still imprisoned. Bill Baggins.
You are proving my point about folks living in a land of make believe.
Even Atheists need angels and demons, and they have adopted politics as their secular religion.
Oh mighty Sauron that was confusing. I’m very hard of hearing since the war. Could you say that again?
Good one, Pat.
🗽
Wait for the echo.
Troll Alert!
Shushie, non-Gandalf.
🗽
You have no power to silence anyone here.
Fair enough. Silence yourself.
🗽
Troll Alert!
No but, the topic of Platform liability is before SCOTUS in the 3rd week of February 2023. The issues will not be resolved by any means because the 'cases in controversy' only involve Google & Twitter & Section 230. Substack Inc & its Authors owe 3rd party duties to "Readers"with an ADR clause, Alternative Dispute Resolution. Do you wish to engae JAMS?
Can you please define the word "engae"?
I am heterosexual and not interested in becoming engaed, but thanks for asking.
Please refrain from further advances. I am not into you.
WOW!
Amazing! Thanks for that good description.
Yes, very historic.
"US waits to shoot down Chinese weapon until after it has done it's job."
How very sensitive of us to allow it to do its job before killing it. So humane.
Very sensitive. They wanted it to be above the ocean for 1. protection of people 2. be able to gather data from it. You are so nothing like Hobbit magic.
I have no particular insight into this event, but I'll offer the opinion that this balloon, and our response to it, had certain strategic value. For the Chinese, that it's them giving the middle finger to the US while awaiting Blinken's visit, and watching for our response (weakness, if we go anyway,) as well as to see how soon we engage it militarily.
For us, it was an opportunity to observe and determine/ monitor the onboard instrumentation (which perhaps has less use than their spy satellites anyway), see if the balloon was controllable in any way, and follow its track.
As to any comparisons to the previous admin, I'll only say that we again have a president who respects the counsel of the military, who advised him to wait. TFFG would have gleefully blown it up over a populated area just to blame the resulting carnage on "Chyyy-nah". He sadly had little respect for our forces, save what could be shown in a Stalinistic military parade in DC. And let's not forget about his 'dead soldiers are losers' quote.
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-says-hell-shoot-down-chinese-spy-balloon-as-soon-as-hes-done-letting-it-spy?utm_source=The%20Babylon%20Bee%20Newsletter&utm_medium=email
GandalfGrey, Overall, we rate the Babylon Bee a satire website based on proper identification that generates satirical content based on Christian and conservative politics.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/babylon-bee/
Thank you professor obvious!lol
The Bee stings again
Now gg is into palpable disinformation not mis information. See US relevant technical Agency.
Yes, lets just let them fly whatever they want over us, let it do its job, and then put it in a museum showing how the west was won.
gg, try to calm yourself.
It would look out of place under the St Louis Arch
Perfect.
I’m sure that the US military, or an alphabet agency of some kind, was able to jam it successfully, or even better, turn it into a ‘double agent’ and send back false information.
As for the event not being reported in the media for the 4 previous occasions, (of which we are now aware - there are bound to have been more,) it is entirely possible the information was classified and was never leaked. How was this siting relayed to the media? Was it leaked? Was it observed by a member of the public?
It was observed by a large number of people in its flight path and photographed. That was one big balloon. The media had fun with it. The military were not too concerned about it (for obvious reasons). I would love to have been with the folks who saw it safely shot down in shallow waters where it is easily accessible. It was an interesting diversion from sucky weather (where I live) and from the now mundane activities in WaDC. In its own way, it was entertaining. It made us look good and it made China look foolish.
Oh, I meant to add: this was an excellent discussion until people let GG wiggle his way into disrupting it. Friends, GG's primary purpose for being here is to do just that: disrupt thoughtful conversations. In the past we have successfully managed it by simply ignoring him/her/it/they. Let's give that a try, as Heather is taking time off and shouldn't need to be running interference. The less GG here, the better the discussion becomes. Please don't feed the trolls.
You won't have to ignore me because my subscription runs out tomorrow. LOL
It remains to be seen whether the discussion improves here. I wish you all the best.
This has been like an adventure to a foreign culture where the natives do not all welcome outsiders. There have been a few less wary folks and several who seem to like my ideas. I've got my own Substack page to maintain, so I will be attending to that while still exploring a few other native lands in which I have found of interest.
Rupert Gethin:
"As long as there is attachment to things that are unstable, unreliable, changing and impermanent, there will be suffering when they change, when they cease to be what we want them to be.
If craving is the cause of suffering, then the cessation of suffering will surely follow from 'the complete fading away and ceasing of that very craving' its abandoning, relinquishing, releasing, letting go."
So you are OK with the Trump administration withholding such information so he could buddy up with China? Since when do Democrats emulate Trump policy? What about the prior incursion during the Biden administration, withheld information just like Trump?
Are you in favor of the intelligence community censoring American media? This information affects politics between our parties and our relations with other countries. Do the contents of the Twitter files have any meaning to you or are you as obtuse as our esteemed media?
I'm not okay with much of anything the previous administration did. On the one hand, you call the media "obtuse" (I don't necessarily disagree with that) and on the other you criticize the intelligence community and President Biden for "censoring" American media. Why would you want certain info, probably classified, handed over to obtuse media?
The whole concept of an intelligence community conducting covert operations in foreign lands, interfering with foreign elections was once repulsive to liberal minded folks. Now it seems the Democrat Party supports it to the extent that they turn a blind eye to these agencies engaging in the same tactics right here at home.
There should be some frank discussion about whether we can continue to operate such agencies in this manner. They have assumed a role which is above the scrutiny of our constitutional republic. They have interfered with our own elections the same way they have interfered with foreign elections.
I don't have the answer to this question: How can we have agencies harboring secrets which must also be kept secret from the client, the citizens of this nation? If I ran a company with an agency that did this behind my back they would be fired immediately.
This is what Eisenhower and Kennedy warned us about.
I hope that answers your question. I hope someone is willing to at least discuss it rationally, and perhaps some genius will come up with an answer. If it we don't talk about it, it will not get better, and probably will get worse.
PS: My subscription expires tomorrow, so I will not be around to discuss the matter further. You are on your own if you care.
Time to crawl back under your bridge and sleep, Gollum.
Sauron.
If you are so worried about our "intelligence community" perhaps you could do what Trump did. Tell his own people to f off and just ask Putin. He'll tell us the truth, right?
When did Trump ask Putin for information? At least he knew we are being lied to. Democrats don't care, and that makes them suspect.
Since tfg told thousands and thousands of lies, does that mean he would be experienced in recognizing those told by someone else? I don't think so. As long as anyone kisses up to him, that person can do or say anything and tfg will think it's wonderful.
Happy Snark Day, Gandalf!
We care about reality. And we really care when our President declares a mass murderer and invader of sovereign nations to be more reliable than his own countrymen. And we really care when that President has a completely private meeting with this wannabe Stalin - no notes, no records. Just a private chat. Helsinki sealed the deal for anyone who ever had any doubts about the Russia connection to the Trump Organization. But hey, they were probably just chatting about the height of the hotel 45 had been dreaming of for years.
I think their more recent chats have been less about hotels than about the furnishings of Trumps dacha - where he will host Ye and Fuentes. I bet the caviar on the cheeseburgers will be epic.
You have no need to know
Paranoia strikes deep
It's not paranoia when these agencies have already been outed manipulating political discourse. Russian bots are nothing in comparison to the misinformation we are getting from our own secret agencies.
You may be happy trusting them, but they have been proven to be misinforming their own client, we the people. That's not paranoia.
Your Conspiracy Theory of the day is hereby noted, acknowledged, and filed in the appropriate portal
Troll Alert!
Troll Alert!
George, stop it. You are as bad as GG. Just ignore the trolls. Please stop feeding it.
If only our own spy network had foiled launch before it happened. Biden fails again
: )
I live in Montana under the path of the 🎈. Rs are so upset. Our military and intelligence communities have long prepared for this. Actually it is an intelligence boon for us. It hovered over our ICBM site here in MT but our military knows how to protect against such intrusions. Our possession of it is a black eye for China. I am guessing the F-22 pilot had fun. Now let's move on children (Rs).
Appreciate your insight on the military’s preparedness to handle these types of situations.
All of these political and "spy vs spy" games! I wouldn't be surprised to learn that we tracked that balloon all the way from launch and recorded everything it told the mother ship (likely a satellite) in order to gain our own intelligence. Other balloons we've never been told about may well have been intercepted. Would be hilarious if we could grab one, attach a paper bag filled with doggy do do and reprogram it to fly home and land on Xi's lawn with the payload.
Not really. I enjoy a little snark now and then, but fantasies of childish pranks are just tiresome.
Sad that you think this is a joke. Are you happy that Trump kept prior incursions secret?
Ah, we've met before Gandolf. Or is it Gollum? I won't take your bait, other than to say that I'd be surprised if your portly orange former "president" was necessarily even aware of any of this on his watch, occupied as he was with all the other shiny objects surrounding his crib.
Who cares if he knew. What I am asking is why were we not informed of these incursions? Where was the media then?
Until I hear details, I'm assuming three Chinese lanterns flew over the Aleutian Islands or Guam and this is just another Democrat false equivalency.
But you guys go ahead and enjoy downplaying another embarrassing episode of the senile leading the blind. Yuk it up.
Why don't you ask your orange god that question?
Guess like most of his supporters you ask the same question over and over and refuse to accept any answers.
Maybe read before you post.
Go away troll.
Last response to you.
He likes to be provocative. Good that you don't take his bait.
Oh if you were only in the security loop, right?
The things you don’t know
The things you aren’t qualified to know
Things that learned people deal with
Oh agony
Security is not security when they are actively misinforming the client. They have gone rogue and we cannot have secret agencies running the joint. That is too much power and it is not constitutional. They are trying to place themselves above the constitution and you seem unconcerned.
I'm trying to make sense out of your comment, but I can't.
Look up false equivalence.
Troll Alert!
Troll Alert!
Danger Will Robinson!
Its probably the only national security secret he didn’t share
Or steal.
I would like to see electronic billboards in every (red?) state critiquing the ever-changing R conspiracies. It would have to constantly scroll to keep up with the next, greatest conspiracy. DJT: I would never have allowed this. Fact: it happened three times on your watch, which you would know if you attended your daily briefings.
Troll Alert!
Shut up, George. Please.
Perhaps you’d be better off asking the same of GandalfGrey.
A troll is a troll is a troll. Without a troll being exposed the trolling will continue. And all a troll wants to do is suck someone in, anyone; to get them to engage with him, get someone to reply about the content of his off the wall remarks. When others will engage with him by replying to the content of his posts it feeds his desire for attention and furthers his trolling.
(Fwiw unfortunate the “troll alert” replies were meant to show up directly under the trolls comments, but didn’t thus appearing like they were made one after another. If you follow the vertical line up you’ll find the incendiary troll’s comment they were meant to expose.)
Troll Alert!
Troll Alert!
Did u read what stinky wrote on his fb page?
Thank you for your words on the Chinese balloon!
Do Republicans ever check their facts before they open their mouths? So tiresome.
🐼❤️
How can you tell if a Republican is lying? Their lips are moving.
Thanks. Sometimes reading through comments, having a bit of levity is up lifting. Thank you again. ❤️
Weak and immature comment.
Says the lamb.
So sorry to have offended you.
How can it be, if it's true?
No, never. Facts get in the way of disinformation and just ranting. Gangrene never knows what she is talking about, ever.
Gangrene has the role of Amarosa. That is all.
For everyone’s Gangreene enjoyment:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoQSRKUr3DV/?igshid=Zjc2ZTc4Nzk=
ew
Nope.
Some guy yesterday was saying that there were a hundred ways to take down the balloon and why didnt Biden do anything sooner.
I wrote that the Pentagon wanted to shoot it down over the ocean so no one or anything would get trashed.
He replied that he had read what the administration had fed the media.
So I said good conspiracy theory there.
He came back and said well they could have used a helicopter with a tether or a big net.
So I replied, yeah but how you get those up over 60,000 feet?
Next thing I know, the guy whose page it was made a big note on his post that he wouldn't let anyone say that what people are saying was a conspiracy because we didn't know what really happened.
Sad to say, the guy is now one of those acquaintances that I will not post anything on his page ever again.
And you know what else the Chinese learned? That we have a lot of gullible people.
I'm sure they learned THAT when they watched this country elect Dump.
As did Putin. Facebook gives foreign enemies more than a window into the public pysche one citizen at a time.
God only knows what TikTok will deliver to the collective mind of the USA.
Dopamine. We ve been so hacked.
But then a balloon is more tangible than a human mind
The Chinese people have known this country is full of TFG’s “sheep” for a long time! Sad to say. So has Russia and North Korea.
Don’t Republican legislators depend on fact less ness as their modus operandi?
Truths are inconvenient when your entire sales pitch is %$#@& lie.
JL, yes about the sales pitch but too many BELIEVE the pitch....because it is easier than thinking for themselves......or having "friends" talk about them or not invite them to the party, etc., etc.
Those characteristics that make people susceptible to believing in mythical deities, make them gullible to believing in the lies told by Republican lies.
100%. The most dangerous thing that TFG has taught McConnel and McCarthy. Stick to the script, and 38% of the population will believe it. Manafort brought this back to DC from decades teaching dictators and despots how to do just that.
Facts suck, spin is tasty. The later does not require plan or accountability, but gets rating up. Ergo, so go Republicans.
Politics based on spectacle instead of policies that might help the electorate.
I think that watching the world go by on TV and similar media encourages us as a society to remain passive spectators, including contemplation of what comes next. Self-governance can't work that way.
Yep, The Neil Postman book, “Amusing Ourselves to Death” was on the mark about this.
I read it some years ago.
Correct. Completely,
Best said. Thanks.
Once again, I'm so, so grateful for HCR--snarky or not snarky--and so, so fed up with most of the media. Everything political is some kind of game, with winners and losers, and people like Taylor-Greene, Gaetz, and Goser get coverage with no context.
If you live in MT where all three of our congressional representatives are MAGA. Daines is one of them . Also Zinke whose post really hyped the hysteria & he, being X military should know better. His post striped him bare naked of why he should not be in Congress
Same in Idaho. So f’d up.
I lived in Idaho for a while in Salmon where it was not uncommon for open carry in grocery stores & library. We then moved,unrealized, to the theocracy of Ravalli Co
Yes side arms were the norm in Salmon not long ago. I also lived in Darby for awhile working on Como Dam. Such a pretty place. Surprisingly it was a non threatening kinder time.
Tiresome is their goal. ( not/never reality)
They not only don’t check their facts, they make up lies to complement their spin machine. Tiresome but effective with the MAGAt degenerates, and apparently our MSM. Everett Dirksen was the last Repub that I recall living in the real world…
There was another Republican in Ohio many years ago who would have been drummed out of the current MAGA GOP - George Voinovich. He served as Mayor of Cleveland, Governor of Ohio and U.S. Senator from Ohio. Unfortunately, there aren't many more like that gentleman around these days.
( this comment was made after reading Billie Johnson's comment) Hey, hey, hey...watch your mouth! You KNOW the R's don't give a flying futz about "facts"...even Reagan called facts "stupid things". /s/
T L Mills - "even Reagan called facts 'stupid things'".
John Adams, our second president, famously said: "𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴." In a 1988 slip of the tongue, Ronald Reagan said: "𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴."
He got his words confused, which is:
• Something we all do.
•Something we do especially when the words are scripted for us - as was often the case with Reagan and sounds like the case with this.
•Symptomatic of many conditions such as Alzheimer’s… but it is something we all do anyway so no reason for suspicion in itself.
Ironically, he therefore proved that facts are not stubborn, but slippery things.
Because:
It is a fact that he said it.
It doesn’t mean that he meant it.
The fact is - it was just one of those stupid things.
https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Ronald-Reagan-say-facts-are-stupid-things-What-did-he-mean-by-that
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/david-doniger/facts-are-stupid-things
Why are there at least 10 different biographies of our second President, John Adams?
Which one is fact?
GandalfGrey, why are you asking us. You seem to be more the authority on this. You tell us.
They are all someone's opinion, as distinguished from your use of the word "Facts". Facts are not stupid, but those who treat opinion as fact are.
So gg, is this an "idea" or an "opinion" about Abigail Adams or something else?
Please refrain from making advances. I am heterosexual and not interested in you at all.
Reported.
(This comment was meant for Mr. Boyd.) If you are a Reagan fan...well, I'm sorry, but I think it was either a Freudian slip or Reagan meant exactly what he said--he was NOT smart enough to quote John Adams--although it's true that he was, as a former B (and C) movie actor, competent enough at memorizing scripts. Reagan's handlers worked very hard indeed to disguise Dutch Reagan's utter lack of intellectual curiosity.
Reagan was quite the debater. His good humor was his greatest asset in debate. He was also one of our greatest Presidents, and millions of Americans agree.
You have no basis for your assertion or your assessment of his value.
Sure they do. They need to know what to ignore. And/or develop their "alternative facts" with which to develop their attacks. They are like rabid dogs. Incapable of anything other than snarling and biting.
Someday, maybe, some previously gullible voters might ask the GQP stooges: "What have you done for us lately? This anti-everything/everybody babble has been fun, but my life is not getting better..."
I am not holding my breath.
Anti-everything is a requirement for being a Democrat. Once the Civil Rights and War protests ended, the great protest movements were hijacked by politicians as foot soldiers for many less worthy causes. But the bands and the weed were great! Praise big pharma, we're getting the band back together for a vax party!
The result is obvious in many of the comments here. Surely it is tiring protesting for the sake of protest, and it will not improve your life or the lives of others one iota.
Some of us with a shred of moral fiber are still protesting about civil rights (shrinking thanks to the Extreme Court) and off budget stupid wars we are still paying for.
We protest because we are not going to get rolled over by the Oligarchs and their culture war puppets.
We will prevail. Demographics and simple human fairness are on our side. C'mon over. We are friendly when we are not outraged by lies, lies and more lies.
That's mighty kind Bill. Thank you for the invitation but I've been there and it was great when it was good. It's just gone bad and I won't be part of it.
I left during the Kavanaugh insurrection and won't be back.
But thanks for your kindness.
Troll Alert!
It's like a sport for him.
Do you have the facts about prior incursions, or are you perfectly happy that Trump kept them secret from the public?
Troll Alert!
Danger Will Robinson.
Trolls get not "happy" as a systemic symptom; review the "Reader" rights section of your Contract with Substack Inc again. I am aware you are scrolling down the comments. Do not project your "not happy" on to Others.
Bryan,
I'm getting no objection from Heather. Maybe she enjoys open discourse more than you.
You think the 'Author" is the content moderation department policed in Mediation? I assume you have some concept of the diligent work that it takes to build a remarkable digital Community? Right, that's why you are here ... to rip-off LFAA.
IMHO his point in trolling here is the bright light coming from LFAA is blinding to him. They don’t understand that throwing out 💩 doesn’t diminish that light one tiniest bit.
Nor have I been contacted by Substack.
Please refrain from making advances. I am not interested in you.
Reported.
No worries I have reported your whole string of Platform disruption & requested Mediation at JAMS.
If only the Republicans could just be happy the balloon was brought down safely and the information attainable. This constant school yard brawl is so tiring :/
Yes! I saw a poll last week on Morning Joe, that showed almost 80% of Americans agree with you. Then the poll broke the poll down by party including Independents, the Republicans in the House are definitely paying a price for their antics so far, because less than 15% of Independents place blame on Dems and Republicans have extremely high disapproval ratings. As Joe Said, the Republicans just aren't getting the Message and they keep losing!
They are between having to tell the truth and a hard place.
Check out what Rupert does…
Exactly they have buried themselves in lies. At some point they run out of air
An ethical and skilled prosecutor can tighten the noose.
The horrifying thing about “Authoritarian/Totalitarianism is that polls and public opinion does not matter
Control is what matters. They are well on their way to achieving control by mindnumbing enough of the “base” to take over. Once in place, the votes of the base won’t matter
Shooting down a weapon after it has done its job is not much of an accomplishment.
No, I am not happy. I am also not happy that folks here don't mind about prior incursions being kept secret. Why were we not informed of this? Are Democrats ok with Trump keeping these incursions from the public? I'm not.
Did you even read the letter?
They were able to stop them from getting any info but we're able to get info from the balloon.
My husband thinks they use an EMP on their electronics, making them inert.
As for the former administration did you expect anything else?
Besides, no one seems to be upset about all the satellites that spy on us 24/7.
This is what Chinese wanted, to divide people more. Just like Russia.
Are you in the National Security loop?
Do you not believe that the art of diplomacy includes strategies “not shared” with the general population?
You aren’t informed about this because you have “no need to know”. If did have a need to know, you wouldn't want it shared
You have no need to know
You are never "happy", definitely a sytemic troll symptom. Review the Substack Inc. Author & " Reader" contract yet again.
Troll Alert!
I think you missed the part about the defense dept. jamming the signals. Also the Government was not sure what toxins might be aboard and that the equipment is retrievable with a soft landing in fairly shallow water.
I'm beginning to believe that GG is a machine programmed to pick up a theme and rides it to death. Responding to it only activates it further. Better to ignore and pass over to the next post that is actually about the Letter From An American.
Well, why didn’t MTG ask to deploy the space lasers to take care of this spy balloon?
Swalwell tweeted same q to her.
That is the question, but she gave that task to Santos who does everything.
Besides, aren’t they Jew-ish space lasers? 😉
Mighty Mouse!!
Jerry Gangrene Greene’s Jewish space lasers are only programmed for domestic use. Perhaps she could aim her AR-15 at celestial targets.
I love it!
This reminds me of a film in the 60's "Around the World in 80 Days" there is a famous line in the movie when I believe it is travelling over India of a man sighting the balloon and yelling "It is Ballooooon!!!"
That became one of our childhood jokes when we saw something out of place "It is balloooon!!!". Point her being yes its serious but no its not. Biden took measured steps. Who gives a flying f....what MTG says or anybody in the GOP. Trump as noted had three such incidents and Trump did nothing to protect us from Russia. The GOP has no agenda but to criticize this Administration. Would not pay any attention to it. Let them bark like dogs and lets respond like the citizens and critical thinker which we are!
"Trump as noted had three such incidents and Trump did nothing to protect us from Russia."
He surely would have only made things much worse. People like Mark Milley seem to know what they are doing. Anyway, a spy balloon from Russia would probably have made Trump feel more secure. He would have blown a kiss.
LOL for real@he would have blown a kiss.
Are you sure you're not thinking of the TV show F Troop?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnXu2xGwJRo
O’Roarke!!!
Right?! There’s no way that series gets made today.
Step One: take a personal vow to turn off whatever medium is bringing mtg to your personal space. I did that for three years when shrub was prez. I hated his creepy little voice; but once I was trapped in a chair at the hairdresser's and shrub came on the news. I had to mentally shout BlahBlahBlah, and then I took up my vow again. Much more peaceful than raging about him.
I forgot that some used to call the little bush 'shrub.' Got a chuckle out of me first thing this morning. Thanx.
It was our beloved Molly Ivins who christened him with that moniker. May she rest in eternal power.
However in the States they are barking in , it gives fuel to their base & reflected in flooding the whole state government with their MAGA theocracy
Just had dinner with a dear friend whose very well educated, a really great guy, an efficient coworker everyone wanted on their team, but who had bought into the MAGA conspiracy culture. He doubts the balloon was really Chinese, asserting that it was launched by Biden's administration so it could manufacture a crisis. Our country has at least two realities being presented to the public, and intelligence alone is not an inoculation against bull spit.
I have experienced similar cases. It is clear that something deep in our psyche can trump conscience and reason. It's strange and creepy.
Same with the smartest person I have known. It started with the Rupert bull Schitt in the 90’s and metastasized long before chump. He was just the icing on the toxic cake. Of course, I have known that smart can also be crazy since I worked at jr high.
Oh Man. And then there are ¨those¨ who bring us to the reality of the task at hand. I'm so sorry. You're a better man than I am Gunga Din. I can not have anyone as a friend who believes such nonsense.
So sorry.
Jerry What is the Chinese word for BULLSHITSY?
废话
(Google Translate. For all I know, this characters may spell out "wild daisies on a mountain". Should i trust Google?)
That is simply astonishing. "bought into the MAGA conspiracy culture." That explains an awful lot; I am applying that to most of my former colleagues who have absolutely jumped the shark with what they are believing is truth.
The Mindf*ck is the M.O.
In a nutshell.
I have said this before but am reiterating it now.There are no good Rs. After all that has happened and these people stand behind their traitorous oral dysentery I cannot abide by any of them.Anyone with an ounce of integrity would have resigned from this hateful, lying “party”(cult) or would have retired or have gone Independent.
My two sisters ran from the repubs, hallelujah
Or just dumped:
"RESOLVED, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party..."
JL, I have always respected people who were strong enough to take a stand especially at such personal cost for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. There is still some "courage" and "honor" remaining in this country.
Even the "GOP" once had vestiges.
Yea JL. I had mine disconnected so ma wouldn’t get pregnant any more.
Another glaring demonstration of "GOP" "ethics" or rather, their utter absence. Remember that the RNC endorses these people:
"Sorry, not sorry: Some 1/6 rioters change tune after apology"
https://apnews.com/article/jan6-capitol-riot-participants-change-tune-after-apologies-f0f37e1409da9366d2d3cc3de65502d9
Exactly, BOOMERANG
This comment is not about the balloon, it's about a windbag. The House Republicans' most prominent female clown recently complained that her job is too hard and her salary is too low. Coincidentally, I've been thinking what a terrible waste of taxpayer money it is to pay insurrectionists like her $174,000 a year when all she's good for is trolling, spreading lies, making stupid racist comments and promoting hate.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/04/marjorie-taylor-greene-backlash-congressional-salary
Unfortunately, the vast majority of her constituents think she’s a great investment. Those people, the ones who voted for her, are the truly despicable ones. She’s just the manifestation of their wretchedness.
I think that many are primarily foolish and I suppose egotistically beguiled. So many of our compatriots are involved we will have to deal with it somehow. I think that at the root of the complete corruption of the former "Party of Lincoln" is big, big money. Evangelical Trump supporters seem to want to forget that Timothy called "the love of money" "the root of all evil". I assume that "love" in this case refers to that which you care about most of all, and will put other things aside for, such as the common weal, other's fates, or one's soul.
I recommend watching the documentary “The Family”. It’s on Netflix. Big, Big money is just part of it. The faux-christian ethos of “The Chosen Few” as the ones worthy of all forgiveness and support. ( Ironically I don’t ever remember any of this “grace” being shown to a Dem). But the others are just dealing in life with what “Jesus” says they deserve, so we should not focus on helping them. Super-Jacked-Up-Patriarchy as the means to governing. Taliban on the Potomac, I say.
Yes, but then combine that with Lehaye’s Apocalypse series, the mega church epidemic, foreign enemies feeding off these vulnerable minds, demagogues winning elections, Mike Flynn using everything he learned from the Jihads to throw gas on the dopamine highs of being in a tribe fighting against what you deem to be evil, then here we are, rhyming with our effing dark history all over again.
“Matthew Avery Sutton, a history professor at Washington State University and author of American Apocalypse, noted that Donald Trump, knowingly or not, tapped into a century of end-times beliefs by quarreling with NATO and criticizing the FBI and the “deep state.” In the Left Behind book series, which was published in the ’90s and early 2000s and which has had an enormous impact on how many Christians conceptualize the apocalypse, the Antichrist turns out to be a politically savvy secretary-general of the United Nations, which is then converted into a single world government.” https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/rapture-apocalypse-books-christian-publishing-trump-qanon.html
Curiously, if there is any force to which the epithet "deep state" is applicable on a world-wide basis, and present as a powerful component of human events throughout history, it is plutocracy. Take the East India Company for example. Or the Iraq War. Would we really have invaded if the principal economic product of Iraq had been cabbages? The Spice Wars? Why would Balzac have remarked “Laws are spider webs through which the big flies pass and the little ones get caught.”? What is retarding front and center progress on the climate crisis? What warps the Democratic Party and owns the Republican Party, lock, stock and barrel?
I think super jacked up patriarchy, in whatever culture is at the core of classic authoritarianism, and simplistic as it sounds, power tends to corrupt. Perhaps there is a genetic predisposition to bully, and while it's more commonplace and problematic for men, there are girls and women who bully. I think the root of the preponderance of avoidable human suffering is abuse of power.
It seems to me that we all, of necessity pursue self-interest, but self-interest becomes toxic, even sociopathic when it runs the whole show, which is what we are seeing when any cluster of human beings begins to assure each other that they are superior to everybody else, master race, dominant sex, true religion, most worthy nation, etc. Notice how many nations claim divine superiority, and how many grandiose and brutal tyrants do.
She exudes hate for Dems/libtards with every breath, just like Limbaugh. What’s not to love for those for whom such is their reason for living…
I thought that her election was close.
that was Boebert
Thank you Suz-an
No surprise that despite complaining about her current paycheck, Marjorie wasn't getting paid nearly as much from her family business in 2019 as she's getting now from the government. She was paid a $100,000 salary in 2019. However, the article says she doesn't appear to have done much work for the company despite what she said in her ads when running for Congress.
So I guess when you're used to getting paid $100,000 for doing almost nothing, trotting up and down the halls and aisles of the House agitating for Qanon, broadcasting conspiracy theories, lying and hating must seem like a lot of work.
https://www.ajc.com/politics/national-politics/businesswoman-image-key-to-greenes-rise/5RX3LQEGUJFI5P6N6EQWZCA5T4/
Especially if you are self-absorbed and hyper-greedy.
And yeah, what if election to office was a great honor and an exceptional opportunity to serve one's country, as opposed to a way to get rich? Or rich-er.
What ever became of the concept of "conflicts of interest"? Or putting the public's interests first?
Dems have had the honor of the rich being public servants; of course, there was Teddy, long, long ago
Generally a worker who proves to be grossly incompetent, let alone a compulsive liar, is shown the door.
Thank you for posting this article. MTG's comments show how naive (among other descriptives) she is.
You're welcome.
As much as anything "The Reagan Revolution" was a coup over diverse, broadly empowering regulated media. I think it has been recognized since the earliest days of the republic that a wise and just society depends on a well informed public. We have been far too blase about right-wing media takeovers and institutionalized lying. I think we as a society have not fought hard enough for the truth, insofar as humans are able to approximate it, and lies, if one is provably lying, are always a deliberate choice. Lies will always be with us, and some lies are trivial, perhaps even advisable, but weaponized lies kill; as in war, as in racism, as they have in our appalling, outlier COVID death rate. Lies could pave the way to our own extinction as a species; and for what?
Weaponized lies, you just described Goebbels and Rupert, for starters
JL, you are really hitting on great points .....thank you as usual!
“We shall hear all the lies, so we the people can determine which lies to assimilate and which to discard”
Is your quote from "1984"?
No, I made it up this morning on a whim
Oh, but believe they do. Not from any sort of concrete, informed, and thoughtful perusal of information, but their "sincerely held belief" in whatever tasty morsel is put in front of them.
In a world replete with lies and nonsense a strategy for identifying trustworthy information is a survival skill for individuals and societies. I am grateful for education, and my wife was a teacher, but I think we are only formally taught these skills obliquely where, I believe, they ought to be central. Just for example (apart from the ludicrous liars we vote into office) is the exceptionally high COVID death rate in the USA, one of the most technologically advanced societies. It it mad and tragic how many more peopled died of the virus plus misinformation. Evidence based virology is well established, and the simple truth is the virus has no legs and to do its dirty work must hitch a ride. Not to mention, after seeing images of kids in "iron Lungs", the relief I felt as a kid in the 1950s for the first polio vaccines. With COVID, the war smolders on, but at least we have some partial respite, and protocols to limit widening infection.
My general impression (as a kid that took to "science" between the ages of 3 and 4) is that we teach kids a lot of information they are unlikely to ever need (including in "Science" if they are not on a track for STEM) but fail to sufficiently instill habitual methods for identifying likely-to-be-reliable information among alternatives. The core of science is not a cluster of technical subjects and findings, it is a method of uncovering and producing useful, verifiable well-educated guesses about what is real. And that process, that skill, be it in a court of law, in filling out a ballot, shopping in a store, etc., transcends the value of the answers that win prizes in quiz shows.
I recall my daughter complaining of an undergraduate course she was taking at a prestigious state university that when she asked the instructor about the function of a certain muscle, she was told "Remember it for the test and don't worry about what it does". It seems to be that mass testing methods select for the incurious. I also know a of some skilled teachers who gave up the profession due to politicized constraints.
“People have a choice whether to believe lies or not” Most of us choose to lie to ourselves to some degree on many days. It’s a psychological defense mechanism called denial. I used to lament that I wished I was better at using it, perhaps I could avoid depression. I think it’s the emotional resilience we build in our formative years that determines how proficient we become at using denial to avoid emotional pain? But I’m not a psychologist. 🤷🏻♀️
Even more than that living life as a lie is what becomes most comforting. Repetition builds ruts in our neural pathways
That would be great. But I believe she's serving her second two year term now. And if she wants to get a pension, she has to work 5 full years. So she'd have to run for one more term. She may be complaining about not getting paid more, but I'd be surprised if she doesn't want to get a pension from the government at 62 no matter what the amount.
Dream on, this cretin will never give up the spotlight, just like her compatriot, Kevin
She wants to be the FatMan’s VP.
She has a seat over at Faux New$ awaiting her.
Soo hoping that Dominion and Smartmatic’s lawsuits will destroy Faux but would be hugely relieved with at least a big win for truth telling
Here’s to Saturday night snark! Well done! 🥂
While catching up on my emails, I am watching “DARK MONEY” a 2018 documentary on the impact from Citizens United and is chilling. Please watch it. This would have been remedied by the Freedom to Vote: john R Lewis Act but these villains have been manipulating the political processes and denying our rights to vote and setting up very real barriers to voting. YOU will be horrified... please watch and then help us to fight back and reinstate our values: the right to vote for all Americans
Alice, where are you watching “DARK MONEY”? It was originally aired on PBS POV, but no longer available there. Any help appreciated,
Thank you Heather for the synopsis. I think at this point, we can all say that no matter what Biden chose to do, the Republicans would criticize him. Since they have nothing constructive to do with their time, it seems, putting an untruthful spin on everything is their only form of mental exercise. I qualify my own statement by adding that is if they have any mental abilities to exercise!
My thoughts exactly!!
A lot of hot air out of these Republicans. Pun intended. 🤣
If they'd taken all the Republican hot air, they could have launched a balloon that would make it to 100,000 feet.
:)
The readers of Le Monde have been having a bit of fun with this. "That balloon could be very dangerous. What if it's full of dragons?" "So how's the weather in Beijing? Cold and crisp here." "The mean things, they've destroyed our lovely balloon!"
🤣👏
US-CHINA BALLOON DIPLOMACY
As a former Foreign Service Officer (and history professor) I find the Chinese intelligence balloon and its aftermath puzzling.
On the surface, Chinese satellites and hi-tech surveillance should provide ample military intelligence without relying on several free-floating ‘intelligence balloons.’ I don’t know why they launched these balloons, especially just before a scheduled high-level meeting in Beijing with the American Secretary of State.
Why did President Biden, after a few days of equivocation, seize on this incident to ‘postpone’ high-level talks?
My hunch is that this is part of high-stakes diplomatic poker game between China and the United States. In recent years China has been highly aggressive in its nationalist ‘imperialism’ in Asia, especially in the South China Sea. It also has sought to weaken America’s role there and elsewhere, with Taiwan being a frightening possible trigger point.
In a battle between giants, image is often as important as a hard-facts- scorecard. President Biden has carefully orchestrated an increasing American response to China’s political, military, and economic outreach. Most recently our SecDef was in the Philippines to expand our military presence there. Domestically, the Republicans have jumped on the ‘stand up to China’ bandwagon.
So why did Biden choose a minor ‘intelligence balloon’ incident to postpone a long-planned meeting of principles in Beijing? Perhaps it was a public message that
1) we are not intimated by President Xi’s China;
2) we are dealing from strength rather than weakness; and
3) we are showing our Asian allies that we have balls!
Welcome to high stakes diplomacy.
Thanks for your professional insights Keith! This all makes perfect diplomatic sense.
The Conjecture of the day!! Thinking strategically. Thanks
Dave I played a form of ‘psychological warfare’ when I was the first person to publicly rate the credit of Japan (1974-1975). A big issue was ‘kan’—this was the upper hand, which the Japanese assumed that they held.
I forcefully engaged in disabusing them of this. By my bold actions I discombobulated them. In this context, score one for the Biden team vs. the Xi team. I can hear the XI folks now: ‘Hey, Biden isn’t playing our game fairly.’ My response: ‘Well, fluck you.’
In 74, the Japanese were eating the US auto industry’s collective quality lunch via Deming principles the US scoffed at
Look at us now
Hubris Resistato, well played
Dave I think your timing is a bit off. In 1974 I visited Honda where their pride & joy was, I believe, a 1500cc motorcycle. Their first Civics had a problem of engines catching on fire. They corrected this and moved stealthily to the Accord and Acura. My management consulting company located Honda’s first plant in USA.
The final two choices were Marysville, OH and Chillicothe, PA. Since the Japanese project manager couldn’t pronounce Chillicothe, Marysville got it.
Perhaps timing is off a bit, in any event Deming had been working with Toyoda since the sixties and was tranforming the quality culture using statistics to control process. America was making low quality Vegas, Pintos, Pacers that rusted out in a couple of years. Subaru was making inroads despite the Riceburner derogatory
US Auto mfg began implementing practices from the GE Quality manual in the early 80’s based entirely on the recognition that the Japanese were on to something. Quality up until then was a hodgepodge of inconsistent practices that fsiled tegularly. I was among the first front line supervisors to be involved in the new SPC training of on line workers
My original stemmed from the knowing pride with which the Japanese held their accomplishments and your activities in kind. They were maybe a bit too proud
Dave In the late 1970s thrifty Keith bought a cheap Chevy (Chevette?) that had to be towed five times. Silly me, thinking that a car should run. Then I bought a Honda Accord. Bliss, until I was rear ended and my four door became two door. Bought another Honda—bliss.
Incidentally, this morning I had breakfast in the building that had been my local Chevy dealer. The food was much better than his autos.
Love your posts Keith. What an interesting life you’ve led!
Gail How can I get you a bottle of wine so that I can hear your story?
Thank you Keith for opening eyes to the complexity beyond what is known. We’re drowning in arm chair quarterbacks on foreign policy. When the entire essence of Intelligence is “foreign secrets” it’s always seemed a bit silly to think I had any idea what was really going on in real time. (With the exception of past behaviors can predict future behaviors, especially as in a well known malignant narcissist’s behaviors)
Christy Don’t be intimidated by the mystique of ‘foreign secrets.’ Much of what is going on can be understood by scrutinizing geopolitics, economics, and human nature. A lot of this is available in history and broad reading. Many of the international hissy fits are because of individuals who are more concerned with themselves than the national interests of their countries. [Trump, Putin, Orban]
The next time that some pompous person tells you ‘it’s too complicated for you to understand.’ Simply reply PSHAW! If they truly understood it, why would the world be in such a mess?
Gotta practice that!!"Pissshaww!!
Mary Pat Phonetically: PISS SHAWW! A little hiss or drawl would help.
I am astonished that I have seen no opinion pieces in the New York Times or Washington Post on this ‘intelligence balloon’ diplomacy. I believe that I got Biden’s thinking right—that it’s a shot across Xi’s bow—-the United States doesn’t buy into your ‘superiority’ horse shit.
Kudos to Biden, and may the Republicans stew in their own scummy juice.
I seems pretty silly for the Chinese to use a balloon for much of anything other than a dramatic or symbolic decoy. They must understand it will be seen and taken for parts?
During enforced containment due to our abrupt change of weather, I entertained myself (between trips to the woodpile) by listening to various reports and commentaries on the balloon. I guess the media wanna-bes couldn't find much out about it, so resorted to the customary conjectural analysis, almost none of which contained anything of substance. Love your line " ...image is often as important as a hard-facts- scorecard." In a nutshell. Thanks, friend, for laying it out so succinctly. This is not headline news. It's just that this time it got noticed at a time when the only national headline was "Northeast experiencing wind chill of -45F", which one can only run so many times.